Baloo and Louie in the Temple of the Emerald King
by James7912b
Summary: Baloo and Louie's first adventure together! Its 1933 and the pair are chartered by a professor and his graduate assistant to fly them to the Amazonia Jungle in search of the legendary Temple of the Emerald King. Little do they know someone is after them.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This story is meant as a homage to the old 1930s adventure serials as well as a nod to the Indiana Jones series, both of which helped to influence Talespin and give the show an adventurous and humorous tone. Talespin is property of the Disney Corporation and all Talespin characters are used without permission, but respectfully. All other characters are my own.  
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**Prologue**

_"With this there grows In my most ill-composed affection such A stanchless avarice that, were I king, I should cut off the nobles for their lands, Desire his jewels and this other's house: And my more-having would be as a sauce To make me hunger more; that I should forge Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, Destroying them for wealth"-William Shakespeare_

**The Amazonia Jungle, May 12****th****, 1533-**

A machete swung down onto a branch, severing it from the tree that it was attached to, thus allowing the wolf holding it to move forward along the small path before him. The wolf walked a few more steps and now found a clearing before him. The sun shone bright in his eyes causing him to cover them with his free hand. He then cautiously stepped out of the treeline and found himself facing a stone pyramid.

"Madre de Dios!" exclaimed the wolf who turned his head and said over his shoulder, "Capitan! Capitan! Mira! Mira!"

Capitan Gustavo Vargas Lobo stepped forward to his soldier's side and gazed up at the massive stone edifice before them. Vargas stared in awe at the structure; the four-sided pyramid was easily 200 feet tall and over 100 feet wide on each side. A series of steps worked their way up the sides of the building which was flanked by a number of smaller buildings.

Vargas put a hand on the shoulder of the young soldier, "Flores, you are the first civilized person to lay eyes on this temple."

Flores asked in a shaky voice, "Is, is this _the _Temple Capitan?"

"Si Flores," said the grinning wolf, "Es el Templo del Rey Esmeralda!"

"The Temple of the Emerald King!" exclaimed the soldier, "We found it!"

Four weeks earlier the column of armor clad conquistadors had left their garrison at the fortified town of Tima on their quest to seek the fabled Temple of the Emerald King. The 43 men belonged to the forces of Francisco Perro Gonzalez and had left the fort under his orders. Perro, the conqueror of the Tinca Empire, had charged his second-in-command with seeking the fabled city which was rumored to be filled with a fabulous treasure in emeralds from a hidden mine. The city was believed to be overseen by a relative of the deposed Sapa Tinca Atahwhalpah named Uthurunku who went by the title of Sinchi. This Sinchi was better known as the 'Emerald King' because he had been tasked by his royal relative to be the overseer of the Temple of the Emeralds. Through the years, and many different Sinchi, each of the overseers had come to be referred to as the Emerald King. Now after negotiating a treacherous jungle, native insurgents, mosquitoes, and poisonous snakes, the weary conquistadors found themselves at the legendary Temple.

Flores was about to walk out into the open but was stopped by Vargas who put an arm to his chest. The Capitan backed up into the treeline taking his soldier with him. Flores looked into his Capitan's face and locked eyes with his leader.

"Do you hear anything muchacho?" Vargas asked in a low voice.

"No Capitan," whispered Flores.

"Listen muchachos," Vargas whispered loudly, "There is no noise."

No birds chirped, no animals bellowed, it was eerily quiet. The men became tense and readied themselves for action.

"Capitan Vargas," came the voice of a native jaguar.

Vargas turned to look at the young jaguar that stood alongside another native jaguar. The two were Tinca natives who had fought on the losing side of a civil war against Atahwhalpah's forces during a power struggle a couple of years before. Both of these men had suffered under the Sapa Tinca and were more than willing to act as interpreters and guides for the conquistadors as they had quickly picked up on the language of the invaders. Besides, the foreigners paid well.

"There are a few warriors hiding off to our right," said the jaguar that was named Manca, "They have been watching our progress."

"Si Capitan," said the younger of the two natives named Cacha, "This place…defended by the Sinchi."

"Will they attack us?" asked Vargas.

"Si Capitan," replied Manca.

Vargas smiled at the thought of battle. He was bred to fight and would take pleasure in wresting the temple from these heathens.

"Sargento Torres," Vargas said to his second-in-command, "Ready the men for battle."

"Si Capitan," said the wolf sargento who quietly sent word down the line to the others.

**The Temple-**

From atop the Temple a pair of eyes looked out from a darkened alcove and watched the invaders arrival. The figure then looked into another section of the treeline and saw a small group of warriors who were lying in wait for his order to attack. He knew that his men were no match for the invaders. He had heard tales of the warriors who wore shiny metal and carried weapons that belched fire and made a sound like thunder. He had heard from survivors of the battle at Catamarca how these men had defeated 7,000 Tinca warriors and taken the Sapa Tinca captive. The entire army of the Tinca had fell apart shortly after their leader's capture and now the invaders were here at the sacred Temple.

The figure saw his men slowly creeping toward the invaders. Soon they would strike and then fall back into the temple where he and his remaining warriors would make a last stand against the greedy conquistadors.

"Sinchi," came a voice from behind him.

The jaguar turned and faced the Villac Umu, the high priest, "Yes?"

"Our warriors will not be able to stop them," said the elderly high priest, "Not in a direct confrontation."

Sinchi Uthurunku looked at the resplendently clad high priest who, with his bejeweled robe, ornamental staff, and headdress of macaw and parrot feathers presented a more regal appearance than himself. If one didn't know that he was the cousin of the Sapa Tinca and the protector of the temple they would think that the high priest was in charge.

"You are correct Villac Umu, but it is not my intent to engage them directly…we will draw them into the temple."

"You can draw them here," said the elderly jaguar, "This is a sacred place and the gods will allow us to stop them…I have read it in the stars."

"Yes," said the Sinchi, "The gods will be greatly offended by the invaders and their anger will be channeled into our warriors. We will force them to fight us in the confines of the temple and we will have the advantage."

The Sinchi knew that the high priests of the state religion claimed to be able to discern the will of the gods by reading the stars and interpreting various signs, but he himself put little stock in it. He knew one thing for certain though: He and his men would a fall to the invaders, but he would ensure that the invaders would gain nothing.

The elderly high priest knew better than to doubt this royal kinsman. The Sinchi Uthurunku was a renowned warrior and commanded the respect and admiration of the warrior guardians of the temple. Of course despite his formidablity, the odds were completely against the Sinchi and his men getting out alive. Their fight would be to the death.

"The vengeance of the gods will be wrought upon these invaders!" cursed the high priest.

"Then we shall be the instruments of their vengeance!" said the Sinchi who then gave a fierce cry to rally his men.

**Outside-**

"What was that?" said a frightened young conquistador.

"It's the signal for the warriors to fight!" said Cacha who raised a bow and prepared to fire an arrow.

"Get ready men," said Sargento Torres.

At that moment the group of jaguar warriors stood up from where they had been laying and fired their arrows and threw their bolas toward the soldiers.

"How did they get so close?" asked a young soldier right before the bolas struck him and wrapped themselves around his thin neck.

"ATTACK!" yelled Vargas as he drew his sword and rallied his troops.

Three conquistadors armed with harquebus's trained their firearms on the closest jaguars and fired. The weapons roared to life and two of the jaguars fell dead. The harquebusiers were joined by crossbowmen who killed two more of the jaguar warriors. At this the remaining warriors turned and fled out of the treeline in a mad dash for the temple.

"Sargento Torres!" said Vargas.

"Si Capitan!"

"Lead half of the men to the west side of the temple and I will take the east and for God's sake do not fire on us!"

"Si Capitan," said Torres who said to the soldiers around him, "Follow me!"

**The Temple-**

The Sinchi watched as his men attacked and then were repulsed by the invaders. Now they remaining men were making their way to join their fellow warriors in the temple. Three of them fell dead to the blasts of the strange-looking wood and metal weapons that some of the armor clad soldiers wielded. Fighting alongside the invaders were two jaguars. The Sinchi seethed at these two and realized that they had belonged to the warring faction that had been defeated two years earlier. Apparently they had decided to throw their lot in with the invaders.

Now he saw that the invaders had divided themselves into two groups and were closing in on the temple. His few bowmen took up their positions and fired down at the attackers. Their arrows glanced off of the metal breast pieces of the enemy but a few arrows found unprotected legs and arms. One of the enemy went down clutching the arrow that had struck him in the throat and another fell over dead, the recipient of an arrow to the left eye.

His bowmen were not enough however and the enemy troops surged forward. They fired their weapons up at the bowmen as well as lobbing more arrows. The guards at the entrance were cut down and now the attackers were entering this sacred temple.

The Sinchi pulled a heavy wooden club from his side and went for his spear. He knew that he would die today but he wasn't going to die alone. He swore he'd take the leader of the invaders with him.

**The Conquistadors-**

Vargas entered the torch-lit temple with his men and gazed in awe of the scene before him: The stone was intricately carved with strange glyphs and paintings. These paintings showed the riches of the temple as well as bizarre scenes of various figures.

"Where is the gold?" he asked to no one in particular while dismissing the symbols of the figures.

"Capitan," replied a soldier, "They are retreating deeper into the temple…it seems as if it has underground passages."

"Then that is where they hide their riches!" Vargas said, "Sargento, you and a few of the men hold this chamber."

"Si Capitan…but what will you do?"

"I will take the others and stop these savages," said Vargas who turned to his interpreters, "Manca come with me, Cacha, stay with Sargento Torres."

The two natives did as told.

Torres took command of the large anteroom of the temple and prepared to defend it from any warriors that he and his men may have missed. The young native however gazed at the carvings on the wall and what he saw made him shudder with dread.

**The Hall-**

Over the next twenty minutes Vargas and his men fought their way through the passages and now came into a large hall that was filled with treasures including dazzling green emeralds which were seated in the walls, and the remainder of the defenders.

An arrow struck Vargas in the chest, badly denting his armor, but causing him no harm. His men then surged forward and cut down the few remaining defenders. But at the end of the hall stood two men: one in bright robes and feather and the other armed with a spear and club. He ordered his men not to harm these two.

Flores took in the breathtaking scope of the hall: It must've been over 100 feet long and 40 feet wide. Its arched ceiling was over 30 feet tall at its apex and the room itself was filled with carvings and adorned with riches. He absentmidedly pried an emerald from the wall and placed it in his pocket, some of his fellow troops did likewise.

Looking closer Flores noticed that some of the carvings were of men performing strange rituals, while others showed what looked to be the gods that these people worshipped, but it was another set of carvings that really caught his attention.

This series of carvings showed what looked like a rain of stones from the ceiling some of which were crushing people that were unlucky to be in their path. The next showed men trapped, next to that were men who appeared to be dying, but the worst was yet to come: in the next frame were men _eating _each other as they struggled to stay alive.

Fear then overcame the impressionable young Flores who gulped and slowly began to back away toward the exit. Without his fellow conquistadors noticing, he made his way toward the anteroom.

For a few tense seconds the conquistadors and the two jaguars faced off with one another. Finally Vargas spoke.

"Manca, tell them everything I say…word for word."

"Si Capitan," said Manca who had been busy reading the inscriptions on the wall. He didn't like what he saw but he knew better than to runaway. He didn't want to risk the wrath of his benefactor and there was a possibility that what was inscribed on the wall was an empty threat.

"Your warriors have fought bravely," started Vargas. His words were translated by Manca, "But you have been defeated. Surrender and I will let you both leave with your lives…I swear it upon my life."

Manca wondered if the Capitan would hold true to his word and then translated the reply from the high priest who had started speaking.

"He say, leave now or you and your men will be cursed with a slow and agonizing death for offending the gods and desecrating this temple."

Vargas held back from laughing at the warning, "Tell him that if he does not leave then he and his friend will be cursed with a slow and agonizing death for offending me."

Manca gulped and then translated. The words on the walls were similar to the ones in the anteroom and they conveyed a dire message to anyone who desecrated the temple.

**The Anteroom-**

"Is something bothering you," Torres asked Cacha. Torres had noticed that the young jaguar was trembling, "We have killed off all of their warriors."

The jaguar turned to face the sargento and said in a voice gripped with fear, "We will be cursed!"

**The Hall-**

The Sinchi knew that the invaders weren't going to leave without getting what they had come for and that thought made him smile. He brought his hand to a stone in the wall. The stone was loose and behind it was a mechanism that when pushed would trap the invaders within the temple. They would get what they came for…but they would never leave.

The high priest knew he couldn't reason with the men, "You have defiled this sacred place and have offended the gods. For this you must suffer the fate of greedy men."

Manca translated the high priest's words with a trembling voice. A sinking feeling in his gut told him that he was going to die.

Vargas snorted derisively.

Then the Sinchi spoke and as he did so he pressed on the stone.

"What was that he said?" asked Vargas.

Manca slowly turned to face Vargas and with a voice filled with terror he said…

**The Anteroom-**

"Cursed? What do you mean cursed?" Torres asked Cacha.

Before he could answer he saw Flores enter into the room with a nervous expression on his face. Cacha turned away from the young conquistador and answered the sargento.

"They that desecrate the Temple of the Emerald King will be cursed…they shall die in agony." Torres and his men focused all of their attention on the words of the jaguar. "Those that come here seeking power and riches will meet with death."

The conquistadors looked at one another with trepidation. Finally Torres spoke, "That sounds like a bunch of heathen nonsense!"

Cacha pointed at a series of carvings that unbeknownst to him matched the ones that Flores had seen in the hall.

Flores followed Cacha's finger and saw the same carvings that he had seen.

"We have desecrated this sacred place and we will be cursed!" Cacha said with fear in his voice, "The carvings say that only those with a noble purpose, they without greed will be granted safety here."

"Nonsense," repeated Torres.

Cacha continued by pointing out a group of figures on one carving. In the glyphs were many men who were trapped in the temple and left to die. "That is us!" He said and then pointed to another carving that showed two groups of figures: One group was significantly larger than the other and this group was shown to be meeting a fate similar to the one that was about to befall Vargas' men. The smaller group, made up of four figures, was shown to be both entering and exiting the temple in safety. Cacha pointed at the four figures and said, "These are the people we should be!"

"What are you babbling about!" yelled an harquebus-armed conquistador, "Make sense!"

"Someday people with a noble purpose will come here and they will live…but others like yourselves will come too…but they will die."

**The Hall-**

"We will die in darkness and despair," said Manca.

Vargas blinked in surprise and then laughed, "You silly little people and your infantile beliefs!"

His men laughed with him…until the first stone fell from the ceiling.

**The Anteroom-**

"What is that Sargento?" said the conquistador with the harquebus.

"It is time for us to die," said Cacha sadly as he knelt on the floor and begged the gods for forgiveness for bringing these men here and defiling the sacred temple.

Flores took one step back, whirled around, and took off in a sprint a moment before a large stone dropped from the ceiling and down onto the harquebus-wielding soldier.

**The Hall-**

"Mierda!" screamed a soldier as a large stone crushed the soldier standing next to him.

"What is going on?" said Vargas in anger.

"They have cursed us Capitan," answered Manca, "We have been cursed."

More stones fell from the ceiling and from where they had dislodged was another ceiling, the true ceiling that had held the false, booby-trapped, ceiling in place.

A trio of conquistadors made for the tunnel out of the hall but they were crushed to death as it caved in. Men were screaming in terror and shouting in panic. Several crossed themselves but Vargas stood defiant. He strode forward, narrowly missing a stone that would have killed him if it hit him, and plunged his sword into the high priest.

The high priest had held his ground and remained emotionless as the cold steel blade of Vargas's sword pierced his stomach and exited out his back. He crumpled over with a faint sigh and died a moment after he hit the floor.

Vargas withdrew his sword from the fallen high priest and then looked around for the Sinchi. The jaguar who held the title of 'Emerald King' was nowhere to be seen.

"De donde va ese hijo de puta?" Vargas said angrily. Then he saw another tunnel that he hadn't noticed before. It was right behind where the Sinchi had stood and had been blocked from his view. Ignoring the falling stones and screams behind him, Vargas pressed on.

**The Anteroom-**

Flores narrowly escaped being crushed to death as the entrance of the temple was closed off by falling stones. He tripped, fell forward, and landed face first onto the ground outside the temple. He rolled over and saw that one of his fellow conquistadors wasn't so lucky. The pig crossbowman had died just a few feet away from safety.

Inside Sargento Torres was killed by a pillar that landed on him along with three others and now there were only three left alive in the anteroom, one of which was Cacha.

**The Hall-**

By the time the stones had stopped falling there were just a dozen survivors left in the hall. Out of 43 conquistadors there were only 14 left alive (with the exception of Flores) along with the two native translators. These men tried to claw their way out but they were trapped by several tons of stone. They had no food and water but what they had brought with them. In a few days they would begin to turn on one another.

**The Mine-**

Vargas was seething in fury; most of his men were dead or dying and the person responsible had him trapped in here. He held his sword in front of him and scanned the torch-lit tunnel. He continued walking and came to a large opening. He stared down and saw something that amazed him.

A large open pit mine, over two hundred yards in circumference, was right below him. The temple that the Emerald King protected actually sat over a mine. The wolf licked his salivating lips at the sight before him. Here were more than enough riches to make him the master of the New World. What Perro had found in other parts of this land would pale in comparison to the treasure that was waiting below. He would return to his garrison, gather more men, and return. He would become so rich that he would be ennobled by his king and possibly could win the hand of one of the king's daughters. All he had to do was to find a way out…that and kill the Emerald King.

The sound of footsteps grabbed Vargas's attention. He turned and came face to face with Sinchi Uthurunku. The Emerald King held a long spear in one hand and a heavy wooden club in the other.

"Ah so you want to die then," sneered Vargas, "You killed my men so I shall oblige!"

Sinchi Uthurunku jumped out of the way as Vargas swung his sword at him. He countered with a swing of his club. His blow struck Vargas on the side and sent him staggering but it caused little harm and only dented his armor.

"Bastardo," it will take more than that to kill me!" Vargas said and produced a dagger. Armed with two blades he lunged at the Emerald King.

Manca stepped out of the tunnel and entered into a large open space. He paid little attention to the pit as he was drawn to the scene playing out at the rim of the pit: Vargas and the Emerald King were in engaged in a fight to the death.

Some of the uninjured conquistadors followed Manca out of the tunnel and watched as their Capitan fought the jaguar warrior. The two men swung and parried, thrust, and turned as they competed in their deadly ballet. The Capitan's sword drew blood from the jaguar's leg but it didn't slow him down. A spear thrust hit Vargas full on the chest and sent him reeling backward. He jumped out of the way of the charging jaguar and spun around. The jaguar's spear went for Vargas' head but missed as Vargas went to the ground. He was followed by the Jaguar's spear. Vargas narrowly missed being skewering by rolling to his side then he swung hard and cut the spear in two.

The Sinchi backed up and tossed his broken weapon to the floor. Then he swung his club at Vargas' sword with all his might. The two weapons collided and immediately flew out of their owners hands. Vargas then received an elbow to his face and he reacted by dropping his dagger. He then took a kick to the side and hit the rim of the pit. The jaguar brought his foot down toward him with the intent of pulverizing Vargas' face but once again the wolf was too quick. He rolled away, got to a knee, and hit the jaguar in the side as hard as he could. He stood up quickly, got behind the jaguar, and brought a knee to the back of the jaguar's leg.

Sinchi Uthurunku fell to the ground and felt Vargas' arms wrap around his neck and squeeze. He fell forward with the wolf on top of him and saw the broken point of his spear lying a few feet away. He reached for it.

Vargas's men cheered as they saw their leader fall onto his adversary and Manca felt a small measure of hope that they might find a way out.

Vargas looked to his left and saw his dagger. His eyes widened at the sight and he freed his left hand and reached for it.

Sinchi felt Vargas's grip on him lessen and he took full advantage of it. He quickly raised his head up and struck the right side of Vargas' jaw. He rolled left, dislodged the wolf, and went for his broken spear.

Vargas was flung off the jaguar but he had landed close to his dagger. He picked it up at the same moment that the jaguar had grabbed his own weapon. The two quickly turned back at each other and thrust out their weapons at the same moment.

Vargas' blade struck the jaguar in the stomach and he yelled in triumph as he saw the noble jaguar go to his knees. He looked into the jaguar's face and smiled. His smile was short-lived however. The dying jaguar motioned to the right with his eyes. Vargas looked to down and saw that the jaguar's arm was leading to his body. He looked at his left side and saw the jaguar's hand. It was holding something. Vargas then felt an excruciating pain in his side. The spear point of the broken spear was lodged in his side! It had been slipped in at the unarmored area right below his arm. The blade was now lodged between his ribs. A moment later the Sinchi gave a thrust and the tip hit Vargas' heart.

Vargas's surviving men rushed to their dying leader's side and crouched down next to him to hear his last words. Only Manca went to the fallen jaguar. He knelt next to the dying Sinchi and felt sorrow at the sight of his fellow Tinca. Though the Sinchi and he were from opposing sides Manca felt a bond with the dying warrior. The Sinchi's eyes gazed deep into his and then he whispered. Manca leaned in close to the jaguar and listened to his last words.

As soon as the Sinchi expired Manca looked over at the conquistadors who were now staring at him.

"Wha-what d-did that bastardo say?" asked Vargas in a feeble voice.

Manca looked from Vargas to the others and then answered in a quiet and emotionless voice: "We have proven ourselves unworthy…We offended the gods and we now pay…we are cursed to die in darkness."

Vargas spat blood and sneered, "You pathetic heathen! You and all your kind are worthless!"

Vargas's men watched as their leader hacked up more blood and began to choke.

"Only those of noble purpose can enter and leave here in peace…we made war so we die," said Manca who stood and gazed into the pit mine.

There must be a way out of their underground tomb Manca reasoned. He resolved to find one, but not for himself or the conquistadors, instead he would find a way for those that were sure to come after…those with noble intentions in their hearts.

Vargas choked on his blood and struggled to breathe but it was too late. His vision dimmed as his life flowed from his wound. He took one last, strained breath and expired. Ironically the vainglorious and cruel Capitan would be spared the horrors that his men would soon endure at the hands of one another.

**The Garrison at Tima,** **Six Weeks Later-**

A disheveled and half-mad wolf in a tattered conquistador uniform stumbled onto the dusty street that was in the center of the village of Tima. He walked toward the garrison but collapsed of exhaustion. A group of passersby picked him up and carried him to the garrison. It only took a few minutes for him to be identified as a member of Vargas's troop. He was then taken to a building that had been set aside as an infirmary. There he was placed under the care of the garrison doctor and a group of Dominican missionaries. There the young conquistador named Flores would recount what happened to his fellow conquistadors.

Friar Salazar listened intently to the young wolf as he explained everything that had happened from the moment Capitan Vargas and his men had left Tima to the moment the young wolf had arrived on the streets of the town. Flores, told of how he and his fellow soldiers had found the legendary Temple of the Emerald King and how they had captured it from the defenders. The Dominican friar listened in amazement as he was told of the fate that the conquistadors had suffered and of the curse that had caused it. He then proved his tale by producing the emerald that he had taken from the temple.

Friar Eduardo Salazar's eyes widened at the sight of the gem and he instantly knew that the soldier has said was true.

"You believe me Padre…don't you?" Flores asked.

"Yes my son," answered Salazar, "El General will want to know the location of the Temple though."

"He mustn't!" cried Flores, "Those without noble intentions in their hearts will perish!"

Salazar did his best to calm the young soldier and placated him by telling him how General Perro was too preoccupied with chasing down any fighters that were still loyal to Atahwhalpah along with trying to locate a legendary city of gold that was supposedly hidden deep in the jungle. It seemed as though the gold held more appeal to Perro. Flores made Salazar promise to keep the knowledge of the stolen emerald secret from Perro and his men. He then hid the gem in the robes that had been provided him by the friar.

Over the next few days Flores was questioned by Perro's aide-de-camp as well as by Friar Salazar about the fate of Capitan Vargas's men and of the Temple. Flores made the decision to act overly distressed and confused in an effort to keep Perro from finding out from him the location of the temple and sending out more men for fear that they too would perish. He did however entrust the truth to Friar Salazar.

A couple of months after his arrival at the garrison, Flores his vows. He then learned that Friar Salazar was being recalled to Hispania where he was to serve as the secretary to his brother who had just been elevated to Cardinal. Before Salazar left, Flores drew up a map to the Temple and ripped it in half. He gave Friar Salazar the first half and told him that one day people worthy enough would seek the Temple for noble intentions and that they could find the remains of the fallen conquistadors and give them a proper Christian burial.

Salazar nodded in understanding and took his half of the map with him back to Hispania where it would be kept at a cathedral.

"Someday Alberto, those worthy enough will find the map and they will come here to seek out your half," said Salazar who added, "And the emerald."

"Padre," said Flores in solemn voice, "Only those that are of noblest intention will safely enter and leave the Temple. It will be up to them to see that my fellow soldiers receive a Christian burial. But they will not find my half of the map easily...or the emerald. They shall have to prove themselves worthy of finding it."

Salazar smiled at the young soldier turned monk and bade him farewell. That was the last the two of them ever saw of one another.

Friar Salazar served at his brother's side and was later elevated to bishop while Flores lived out his days in the quiet spiritual contemplation of a monk at the mission at Tima where he died at the unprecedented age of 105.

**The Temple-**

After the events of Vargas's sacking, the jungle slowly crept forth and reclaimed the temple complex, successfully concealing it with vines and other plant life. In time only the animals visited it, those Tinca who knew about it avoided it as a cursed place and refused to talk about it to the conquistadors. Over the years several expeditions were mounted to search for it but the Temple of the Emerald King eluded all who sought it and so it would remain hidden for 400 years until 1933.


	2. Work

_ "If you don't want to work you have to earn enough money so that you won't have to work"-Ogden Nash_

**Cape Suzette, October 14th, 1933-**

"Ah, this is the life Louie!" said Baloo Bruinwald in between bites of a triple-decker cheeseburger that he was enjoying. He and his friend/co-pilot Louie Lamour were enjoying their lunch break at Paul's Burgers and Fries, which had arguably the best burgers and fries in all of the city.

Louie looked at his friend's open mouth and winced, "Urgh, I can see you getting fatter!"

Baloo swallowed and laughed, "I'm not fat, I'm just big boned!"

"Keep telling yourself that ol' buddy and you just might start to believe it."

The bear pilot's eyes locked with the orangutan's for a few seconds and then they both burst out laughing.

"Admit it Baloo," said Louie with a sly smile, "You are getting heavier."

"So, I get a good work out loading up cargo…it balances out," Baloo said in his defense, "Besides, at least I don't eat with my feet!"

Louie had just been about to grab a fry with a foot (his hands were holding his burger) when he stopped and frowned, "I thought we went over this: I got full use of my appendages so why not use them? It's not my fault you can't use your feet."

"True," replied Baloo as he wolfed down another bite, "You're lucky you could use your appendix."

"Its appendage…not appendix."

"Appendage appendix same difference."

"Tell that to my doctor," Louie said as he grabbed the newspaper that he had bought earlier and looked through it.

Baloo saw the headline on the cover of the **Cape Suzette Times. **It read **Reichland withdraws from League of Nations.**

"Looks like that Hentrich character and his buddies are up to no good," Baloo said referring to the Chancellor of Reichland, Adolphus Hentrich, who along with his Hauser Party had taken control of Reichland earlier in the year.

"Sure does Baloo," answered Louie as he thumbed his way to the sports page, "The guy is popular though… and militant looking. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts something."

"A war?" asked Baloo incredulously. Louie shrugged his shoulders and Baloo added, "Not gonna happen buddy. Those Reichlanders learned their lesson the first time around so there's no way they'd try something stupid again."

"Hope you're right," said Louie who glanced at his wrist watch, "Lunch break is almost done cuz, time to head back to the old grind."

Baloo took one last bite of his burger and finished it off then stood up. He looked down at his fries and grabbed a handful.

Louie shot Baloo an annoyed look to which the bear responded, "What? They're for the road."

**Pacific Air Freight Service-**

Baloo and Louie walked onto the premises of their job and toward the silver Conwing L-16 cargo plane. The aircraft, built by Consolidated Wings Corporation, was one of 10 that were owned and operated by Pacific Air Freight Service and its founder A.R. Branigan. The bear and the orangutan had been a part of Aloysius Ryan Branigan's company since its inception in 1931 and more or less enjoyed their job although sometimes the long hauls did get to them.

"You know what I was thinking Baloo?" asked Louie as he hopped into the cockpit and pressed a button that opened up the cargo ramp, "What we need, not just us but all pilots, is somewhere along the way to stop for a bite to eat and something to drink."

"Well didn't your grandma leave you an island?"

"Yup, its small about 2 square miles and it has an old shipwreck on it."

"That could be made into a hangout."

"Yeah, but I need money to make my vision come true."

Louie was right Baloo thought. Louie had inherited the island from his grandma a year before but there was really nothing on it except the wreck.

"Well maybe you can find someone to invest in it," suggested Baloo.

"No way cuz," said Louie dismissively, "I want to be sole owner, I don't want anyone else trying to take charge of it."

"Well if you don't want a co-owner where are you going to get the money?"

"From the same place that you're going to get the money to buy the plane," replied Louie.

_Ah, the plane, _Baloo thought. He had been wanting to buy the plane ever since he had started working at Pacific Air Freight but he had nowhere near enough money to buy it. Besides, if he did buy it then he would have to have enough to start up a business and right now with a depression on there was next to no chance that he'd get enough money to make his dream come true.

"You know something Louie?" asked Baloo, "We can't be wage-slaves forever, someday we gotta do something and make money…be our own bosses."

"Amen cuz, amen."

"Hey wage-slaves!" came the bellowing voice of their boss, "I got a job for you."

**The Office-**

A.R Branigan sat at his desk with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The stocky badger came off as gruff and tough but in all actuality he was a nice person.

"OK wage-slaves, seeing as you keep pissing and moaning about not having enough money it has come to my attention that you need to take a long flight soon."

"We weren't complaining about anything boss," Baloo said with a smile.

Branigan looked at Baloo and smiled, "I got ears you know? You two talk loud enough for everyone to hear."

"Well we uh," Baloo started but was stopped by his boss.

"So you want to be your own bosses huh?" smiled the badger, "You have to work your way up…just like I did."

"Will you sell me the plane?" Baloo surprised himself with what he had said. He hadn't meant to be so straightforward but the words just came out. "I uh, I mean you know cause I would like to eventually be my own boss."

Louie grimaced at Baloo's audacity but kept quiet.

Branigan smiled and leaned back in his chair. He puffed on his cigarette and then leaned forward. "So you want to buy the plane…Tell you what Baloo, in case you haven't noticed it, things are tough economically nowadays and you two aren't the only ones who need cash. I got 10 planes to take care of, 10 pairs of pilots and copilots, one of which is a trainee, two secretaries, and six mechanics…one of which is pretty banged up from that side project I had you guys do," Branigan felt guilty for the injury to his mechanic.

Baloo winced at that last part. He, Louie, and their childhood friend Francis "Frank" Wildcat had did a side job assisting an aircraft inventor by the name of Ravenwood and his daughter. Ravenwood was an old friend of Branigan and had needed some help with a new plane he was working on. Unfortunately Wildcat had gotten hit in the head by a propeller that had started up by accident due to a power surge. The blade hadn't been going very fast but it had gone fast enough to knock Wildcat unconscious and gash his skull. Afterward the injured mechanic had been a little slower, almost like he was a kid, but for some reason he had not lost his mechanical skills. Still it had been a huge scare and Branigan had stepped in to pay for the medical bills and was nice enough to give Wildcat a month off with pay.

"When is Wildcat due back boss?" asked Louie.

"He should be back in town at the end of the week." Wildcat was currently staying with his parents in their small town two hours away.

"Hope he'll be alright," said Louie.

"That boy's tough Louie," said Branigan who occasionally referred to anyone under the age of 30 as a boy.

"Yeah he is, "said Baloo, "He works harder than most anyone I ever seen and he doesn't seem to tire."

They chatted a few moments longer and then Branigan got down to business. "OK fellas here's the deal: You two got a long haul. There's this professor guy who needs a round trip for him and his assistant to the Amazonia jungle. It might take a couple of weeks but his university is covering it."

"A couple of weeks!" Louie and Baloo exclaimed simultaneously.

"I thought you boys wanted more money," Branigan said with a hearty laugh, "All of your fellow pilots are busy, thank God we have gotten a decent amount of business as of late, so now you two are the only free pilot/co-pilot team…well you and the trainee."

_Urgh, the trainee, _Baloo thought to himself. The young hippo got on his nerves. _She, _he couldn't believe a woman was trying to be a pilot, had shown up determined to fly. She had a basic understanding of airplanes and had been hired because her mother was a friend of Mrs. Branigan. Baloo had made a smart remark about the hippo being a woman and had been told by his boss that he should be more open minded and that he knew just the way to help him achieve more open-mindedness. He had tasked Baloo with showing the trainee the ropes.

"Do we have to take her?" Baloo asked sheepishly.

"Why? Afraid she'll show you up?" Branigan laughed, "That girl's a quick learner."

"She gets on my nerves!"

Louie jumped in, "Baloo means that she teases him a bit. She says that she can be at least as good a pilot as Baloo."

"Well for your information Baloo, she won't be going with you. I have her scheduled to help Vic and Myron replace the burned out engine in the _Cormorant."_

Vic and Myron had burned out the engine as they had to push their plane to the limit to avoid being shot up by Don Karnage and his air pirates. The dreaded raider had appeared on the scene a few years earlier and had proven himself to be the bane of trans-Pacific shipping and as of yet no one had stopped him.

"I still haven't come across that Karnage guy," said Baloo.

"Trust me Baloo, you don't want to," said Branigan who finished his coffee, "Now your professor and his assistant will be here shortly so get your plane prepped."

As soon as Baloo and Louie walked out of the office three men entered the premises and headed straight for Branigan's office.

"Guess what day it is Branigan," said the small alligator with a threatening smile.

Branigan looked at the small, suit wearing gator and his two hulking sidekicks: a huge gorilla and an equally huge rhino both of whom were, like their boss, attired in suits.

"Well it's the 14th which means that I still have to the first to pay my dues," said Branigan coldly.

"True," said the gator, "But the big boss wants everyone of his clients to know that starting on the first the dues go up 15%."

"Fifteen percent!" said Branigan angrily, "What the hell for? Doesn't he know that things are tough right now?"

"That's precisely why the big boss wants to raise the rates," said the gator with a toothy smile, "He has to keep up with the competition."

The little alligator's name was Maurizo Alligatore but he was better known as Trader Moe. He was a collector and foot-soldier for Big Joe Pelicano. Pelicano's crime syndicate had control of the docks and by virtue of the docks, all shipping. At this time Pelicano headed one of two crime syndicates in the city, the other being headed by his arch-rival Owl Capone.

"Boss, uh should we…you know…uh, pulverize him?" asked the Gorilla goon.

"Yeah boss, we should pound him," added the rhino.

"Will you two shut up!" said Trader Moe to his underlings, "I do all the talking not you!"

"Enjoying your time with your guys Moe?" asked Branigan.

Trader Moe rolled his eyes, _Why oh why did I have to get saddled with these two? They're morons! _"Don't you worry about them Branigan, you just worry about having the money come the first."

"He worries about us boss?" asked the rhino.

"No you stupid idiot!" yelled Moe, "Go outside and start the car."

"Then what boss?"

"Wait for me!"

The goon did as told.

"You need some new goons Moe," said Branigan who lit a cigarette. He wasn't at all scared of these three. He was more annoyed that they showed up over two weeks early. To him they were just a trio of peons who probably couldn't hack it on their own. However these three had one ace in their sleeves: Jimmy Leopardi AKA Jimmy "the Gent". The leopard was a rapidly rising mobster who was the youngest underboss in the Pelicano Mafia family. He had attained this position due to his loyalty to his boss and through sheer ruthlessness. Rumor had it that several problematic people had met their ends at the hands of Jimmy the Gent and Branigan knew he couldn't afford to press his luck too much because Trader Moe and his goons answered directly to the Gent.

"Tell me about it," said Trader Moe, "Now when I come back here on the first I expect that you'll have that little extra."

"I'll have it for Mr. Pelicano and Mr. Leopardi," Branigan replied with a thinly veiled insult to Trader Moe. _The only reason I'll have it is because of your bosses. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't give you the time of day little lone any money._

The insult wasn't lost on Trader Moe, "Just have the money Aloysius," said the gator in a threatening voice.

"Sure thing…Maurizio."

"Its Trader Moe!" snapped the gangster who turned to the gorilla, "Let's go."

"Go where boss," asked the gorilla, "Can we go eat? I'm starving."

"Yeah, you can have a nice big knuckle sandwich," replied Moe who walked out followed by his hungry goon.

As soon as they left A.R. Branigan leaned back and asked himself, "Where am I going to get the extra cash? We're barely making ends meet even with the business were getting."

**Pacific Air Freight-**

"Well that should be about everything Baloo," said Louie as he finished fueling up the plane.

"Good, everything checks out," said Baloo who had just completed his pre-flight checks, "Now all we need is that professor guy to show."

"So fellas, going on a long haul?" came a feminine voice that made Baloo cringe.

"Yeah…and you're not going," he responded in an annoyed tone.

"Oh Baloo, I love it when you talk angry," laughed the hippo.

Baloo looked at the trainee and smiled, "Just messing with you Jane."

"Oh so I am going with you two?" asked Jane 'Plane Jane' Hibbard.

"What? Oh no," replied Baloo, "I was just messing around by sounding annoyed at you."

"I know you don't hold women workers in high esteem Baloo…especially women pilots."

"I think I have to check the fuel gauge," interjected Louie who disappeared inside the plane.

"It's a tough job Jane," said Baloo.

"You just feel threatened because I'm learning quick but you should appreciate that I'm learning from you."

"I still don't know why you want to be a pilot. Wouldn't you feel more at home at a desk?"

"Typical man Baloo, you think that no woman can do a man's job."

"But this is flying not baking a cake."

"One of these days Baloo this girl," Jane said pointing to herself, "Is going to be just as good a pilot as you."

"That'll be the day," Baloo whispered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Just saying to myself that the _Cormorant _needs some attention."

Jane smiled at him and then said, "Yeah I guess I have to get to that but I'm pretty sure that I can do a better job on it then you could."

Baloo watched his understudy walk off and smiled to himself. Even though he didn't care for the idea of women pilots he couldn't help but like Jane. She got on his nerves with her brash attitude but she was a quick learner and had a lot of drive. He only gave her lip because she was a woman, it was nothing really personal.

A moment later the professor arrived.

"Excuse me gentlemen, but are you Baloo Bruinwald and Louie Lamor?" asked the professor.

"That's us," said Louie who took in the professor's appearance. He was a short monkey with glasses and a tan shirt. On his head sat a tan pith helmet.

"Pleased to meet you," the professor said sticking his hand out, "Professor Linus O'Bowens of the Archaeology Department of the University of Cape Suzette."

Both pilots shook his hand.

Baloo said, "Where's your assistant? Our boss said you'd have an assistant."

"Oh Thom will be coming around soon with our gear."

"Is there a lot?" asked Louie.

"Not too much, just a four-man tent, and a couple of small boxes of supplies."

"Well once the stuff gets here we'll load it up."

"Good, is there a phone I can use? I forgot to look when I got here," asked O'Bowens, "I need to call the university and let them know that everything is on schedule."

"Inside the main building; talk to Marcie the secretary," said Baloo helpfully.

The professor thanked him and then went off to the phone.

"So I guess all we do now is wait for Thom," said Louie.

"Yup," Baloo answered and then glanced at his watch, "Its after two, at this rate we won't get to Amazonia until tomorrow afternoon unless we fly straight through."

"Maybe we can persuade the professor to let us stop in Freeport," said Louie.

The two looked at each other and smiled, "Stingray's?" Then they both laughed.

Presently a young woman arrived pulling a dolly with some crates on it. "Are you guys Baloo and Louie?" she asked.

Baloo grinned at the slim, young cat. _I'll be whoever you want me to be!_

Louie smiled at the young lady. _Oh honey I am definitely who you're looking for!_

The cat cocked her head sideways and asked again, "Are you guys Baloo and Louie?"

"That's us," Baloo said a little too quickly.

"And who might you be ma'am," asked Louie in a gracious tone.

"I'm Thom Whiskerson, Professor O'Bowens's assistant."

Baloo's jaw dropped, "You're Thom?"

Thom Whiskerson rolled her eyes, "Yes I'm Thom."

"But Thom is a boy's name!"

_O Brother! _"It's short for Thomasina."

"You're an archaeologist?" asked Louie.

"Yes...well I am a graduate student working for the archaeology department.

"But that means you go out and dig stuff up and get dirty!" said Baloo.

"Sometimes."

"But that's man's-" Baloo stopped himself short of saying that it was man's work.

Thomasina Whiskerson glowered at Baloo, "Man's work you mean?"

"Well uh."

"You know what else is man's work?" she asked with a sly smile, "Helping ladies with their things."

"Better load up the nice lady's things guys!" laughed Plane Jane who had been observing the scene from the maintenance bay.

Thom sat back and watched as Baloo and Louie loaded up the gear and smiled in satisfaction.

A few minutes later the professor arrived, "Ah I see you've met Thom!"

"Oh boy did we ever," said Louie.

**Bay Street, outside of Pacific Air Freight-**

Twenty minutes later the Conwing L-16 thundered down the pier and rose into the light blue sky on its way to Amazonia. Its takeoff was witnessed by a boar and a jackal who watched from a parked car. The boar got out of the passenger's side and walked to a nearby phone booth. He dropped in some coins and dialed a number.

"Bonjour," came the voice on the other end of the line.

"Sir, O'Bowens has just left."

"Bonne!" said the person on the other end, "I trust you placed the device with them?"

"Oui, I had walked by O'Bowen's assistant at the university and dropped it in their things before they left," said the boar referring to the experimental tracking beacon that had been developed by a scientist named Martin Torque and given to them by the businessman who was backing their expedition.

"Excellente! They may be a few hours ahead of us but that does not matter. I and the others will arrive at the aircraft once we get the rest of our equipment gathered. Wait for us at the plane."

"Oui sir."

The call ended and the jackal climbed back into the car.

"To the plane?" asked the jackal at the wheel.

"Oui, we will meet up with the professor and the others there."


	3. Stopover

_"The Greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart,"-Unknown  
><em>

**Over the Pacific Ocean, October 14****th****, 1933-**

As soon as the Conwing L-16 took off from Cape Suzette and passed between the narrow opening that separated the bay from the open ocean, Baloo swung the plane southwest instead of southeast toward their intended destination.

"Think the professor will mind this little detour Baloo?" asked Louie.

"Nope," answered Baloo nonchalantly, "Why would he?"

"Its out of our way."

"Maybe he and the girl are hungry," said Baloo who added casually, "Besides I thought you wanted to go to Stingrays."

"I do but now that I think about it I'm not sure if the professor is the type of guy who would set foot in that place. Its a pretty rough place after all."

"Aw he'll have nothing to worry about, he'll probably like it and maybe we can get that girl out on the dance floor."

"Already wanting to work your magic Baloo?"

"You know it," said Baloo with a smile, "I don't know why a pretty girl like that wants to be caught up in a job where she'd get all dirty digging around in some cave or whatever."

"What makes you think she'd go for you?" asked Louie with sly smile, "I mean there are plenty of _other _guys out there she may be interested in."

"Would one of those other guys be someone I know?"

"Perhaps."

"Could he be sitting right next to me?" Baloo asked coyly.

Louie leaned back in the copilot's seat and yawned, "All's fair in love and war Baloo."

Baloo was about to issue a challenge to Louie when there was a knock at the cockpit door. "Its unlocked!"

The door swung open and in walked Professor O'Bowens, "I hope I'm not intruding on anything."

"Oh no, you're good professor," replied Louie, "We wuz just chattin."

"Ah that's good, whatever it takes to stay awake. I can imagine that these long flights take their toll on you pilots."

"Aw its nuthin," said Baloo, "Any good pilot knows himself and his plane and can handle anything that comes up."

"Speaking of this plane," said O'Bowens as he took in the dials and instruments of the control panel, "Tell me about it."

Baloo gladly spoke of the plane. "Well this here is a Conwing L-16, made by the Consolidated Wings Corporation-formerly the Conwing Aircraft Corporation before it merged with Consolidated Aerospace a few years back. It's a multi-purpose plane, meaning it can hold either passengers or cargo, or a mixture of both. It can hold about 16,000 pounds of cargo and with its Superflight 100 engines, it can do 200 miles per hour."

"How long have you flown it?"

"Two years."

"That's how long the two of us have been working for Mr. Branigan," added Louie.

"What did you do before that, if I may ask?" queried the professor who by now had taken a seat on a fold down chair behind the pilot and copilot's seats.

"I did a short stint in the Army Air Corps as part of a flight crew, worked some odd jobs here and there you know. Some mechanical stuff, worked at a moving company, went to school to learn to fly."

"You seem like the kind of man who really loves his job."

"Love it," Baloo replied, "There's nothing that beats flying. When I was a kid I used to think about flying at least every ten seconds!"

"Well I am glad you enjoy doing it. The way I see it, a person shouldn't have a job doing something that they don't like doing."

"Amen," Chimed in Louie.

"What about you Louie? What did you do?"

"A little cooking at a restaurant, some bar tending, and some odd-jobs here and there."

"What about you professor," asked Baloo, "Tell Louie and me a little about yourself."

"Well I'm a professor of archaeology at the University of Cape Suzette…oh I already mentioned that earlier!" laughed the professor, "I graduated magna cum-laude from the University of Chicargo, I was a guest professor at Foxford University in Anglia for a couple of years, I've written three books, several articles for scholarly journals, and I have been on expeditions to places as faraway as Ghafia, Abyssinia, Macadamia, and Thembria."

"Thembria?" Baloo and Louie both asked in wonder.

"Yes, Thembria."

"What is there to look at in Thembria?" asked Baloo, "I mean all it is is snow and ice."

"Well there are some ancient sites that are evidence of early migratory patterns of people who left Thembria for warmer places."

"Wow even way back when no one wanted to live there," Louie said.

"It is a peculiar place," said O'Bowens, "The whole time we we're there-which was two months, we had the military breathing over our shoulder. There was this one really small officer who walked around with a riding crop. When he introduced himself to us he asked if we had heard of him. Apparently he was a war hero."

"Thembrians are weird," said Baloo, "They're not right in the head."

"Understatement of the day," added Louie.

"Oh, by the way, before I forget, what's the name of your plane?" asked O'Bowens who added, "When I walked up to you, I heard you tell your coworker about fixing the _Cormorant."_

"This here," Baloo said with a smile as he patted the steering wheel of the plane, "Is the _Sea Duck!"_

"Its nice that your employer lets you name the planes."

"One of these days she's gonna be my plane!"

"I have no doubt in my mind that it will."

"By the way professor, what exactly are you going to go and look for," asked Baloo, "Our boss mentioned that we might be saddled together for a couple of weeks."

"Yeah are we looking for the Ark of the Covenant or magical stones?" asked Louie.

"Or the Holy Grail or some crystal skulls or something?" added Baloo.

O'Bowens laughed and said, "Nothing like that, we're looking for something else and don't worry about the couple of weeks, the university is covering it," Oh and we're looking for the Temple of the Emerald King."

"The Temple of the Emerald King?" Baloo repeated with wide eyes, "You don't say?"

The topic of the temple was interrupted by Louie changing the subject. The orangutan had been shifting back and forth between wakefulness and sleep and now asked about a topic that was different , but no less interesting than the Temple of the Emerald King.

"So professor," asked Louie with a grin, "What's the deal with your assistant?"

"Oh Thom is a stellar academic," O'Bowens said enthusiastically, "She is bright, has a lot of drive, and is thoroughly dedicated to her work."

"Why does she want to dig stuff up?" asked Baloo.

O'Bowens laughed, "Ah I see. Well I know both of her parents. Her father is very old fashioned and her mother was very involved with the women's suffrage movement, it was amazing that two peolpe like that got married. The way Thom sees it is that a woman can do whatever a man can do."

"Is someone talking about me?" asked Thom as she walked into the cockpit.

"I was explaining to our pilots how much you enjoy archaeology."

"Well there's no reason a woman can't do what is perceived to be a man's job," she said with a sly smile."

"Why not?" asked Louie who was hoping to score some credit from Thom, "We got a woman pilot with us."

"She's still a trainee," Baloo said.

"That girl claims that she can be just as good a pilot as ol' Baloo here!"

"Is that true?" asked Thom.

"That's what she says but proving it will be something else," answered Baloo.

Baloo decided he didn't want to get into a discussion about men and women's work roles and went ahead and told the passengers about their unscheduled stopover.

"We're gonna be stopping over in Freeport for the night and then in the morning we'll continue on the way to Amazonia."

"Actually we are going to Feru the Amazonia Jungle is part of it," said Thom, "Just to be specific. And why are we stopping in Freeport?"

"That's a good question Baloo," said O'Bowens, "Why are we stopping there?"

Baloo got quiet.

_Uh-Oh! Somebody forgot to think this through, _thought Louie who leaned back further in his seat and smiled.

"Well uh, we uh, we gotta refuel there."

"Don't we have enough fuel to get there?" asked the professor.

"Technically we do…but anytime we go on a long haul like this there is always a chance that we could run into bad weather and have to change our route or we may get into a tussle with air pirates so the boss likes us to stop along the way and refuel just in case we need it…you know if we lose a lot of fuel from going out of our way or if the fuel tanks get hit."

_Good one Baloo! _Louie thought to himself.

"Hmm, I didn't think about that," said the professor as he considered the possibilities, "Do you think we'll come across any pirates?"

"I hope not."

"So is Freeport the only place we can get fuel?" asked Thom who was somewhat skeptical of Baloo's answer.

"Well I mean Tidewater Beach is on the same island as Freeport but its on the farther end of the island."

"Well going there does take us out of our way. Is there a closer island to go to?"

_Geez lady gimmie a break! _"Well some places out there have higher fees for landing and then there are local taxes and the usual con artists."

"Doesn't Freeport have those types of people too?"

"Not as bad as other places," said Louie who jumped to Baloo's defense, "Plus Freeport is a decent place…there's even some good places to get some grub."

"Well it can't be that bad," said O'Bowens, "In my travels I've come across the kinds of places that Baloo is talking about Thom and we'd be wise to stay away from anyplace seedy."

_Thank you professor! _Thought Baloo.

"Isn't Freeport a little seedy?" asked Thom, "I've read about it in the papers."

_Lady don't rain on my parade! _"Actually it's gotten better over the years."

"Speaking of Freeport," said Louie who pointed out of the window, "That's it over there."

The passengers looked out of the cockpit window and saw in the golden sunset the island of Freeport.

**Cape Suzette-**

The three Groman G-21A Goose cargo planes lifted off from Cape Suzette in the early evening for the Republic of Feru. Each plane was crewed by one and had room for five passengers although the total number of passengers was eleven. The rest of the room left in the cargo holds of two of the planes held gear while the open space of the third was left for anything that might be found during the expedition.

Sitting inside the lead aircraft was the expedition's leader: a slim and urbane leopard who was renowned throughout the archaeological community as one of the best in the business but also as one with questionable practices.

"Monsieur, O'Bowens has about a three hour head start on us," said the boar whose name was Verrat.

"That is of little consequence to me at this present stage," said the leopard, "Besides we have the tracking device that our friends have given us."

"True but it is only good up to ten miles," replied Verrat who added, "It is still in the prototype stage."

"It does not matter," said the Leopard who took a glance at his sharp extended claws, "O'Bowens has his graduate assistant with him and the two cargo pilots you mentioned. He will be no problem for us once we arrive, head start or not."

"He could make friends with the natives."

The Leopard smiled and retracted his claws and looked at the boar, "That is why I have Chacal, you, and the men."

The three cargo planes continued on their way to Feru and the Amazonia Jungle…little did their passengers know that the people they were following were actually _behind_ them.

**Freeport-**

Baloo brought the _Sea Duck _into land at the Freeport Regional Airport and taxied down the runway. As he did so he decided to prod Professor O'Bowens about the expedition.

"You know professor," said Baloo in as innocent a voice as he could, "What do you have planned for Louie and me while you and Thom are digging around in the jungle?"

"Well Mr. Branigan said that the two of you were to help us with every aspect of the expedition. We're short on labor because the university only funded Thom and myself so I explained to your boss that we'd need your assistance."

"You mean we gotta dig up stuff?" interjected Louie.

O'Bowens sensed that the two pilots were less than pleased by this development and sought to placate them. "Mr. Branigan did agree to pay you both the same amount of money as was going to be spent if we had brought our own people, provided we find something of interest to the university. If we find something of interest, then the university will give us extra money."

"How much is that?" asked Louie.

"Well that would be $200 apiece."

"What about if we find anything?" asked Baloo.

"Well if this is a big find then the university will give us more money for you and your company and plus we may be featured in major archaeological publications...and maybe even _International Geographic_!"

"You mentioned something about this Emerald King guy."

"Did that grab your attention?" asked Thom with a cynical smile.

"Hey lady I gotta pay the bills you know."

O'Bowens laughed, "Archaeology isn't about jewels Baloo, its about treasure."

"I thought emeralds were treasure professor."

"The real treasure is the wealth of knowledge that we can glean from studying the artifacts left behind by ancient civilizations!" said the monkey professor excitedly, "Its about finding a way to reconnect the past with the present in such a way as to enlightened contemporary peoples via the accomplishments of those that came before us! By excavating and researching these ancient civilizations we enrich ourselves as a society. That my friends, is the true treasure that we seek, not material wealth."

This concept was lost on Baloo and Louie.

"So where do the emeralds come in?" they asked simultaneously.

O'Bowens looked out at the city and saw a number of establishments including several seaside restaurants. His stomach growled with hunger.

"Gentlemen, I will share with you the tale of the fabled Emerald King over dinner."

And so the quartet exited the plane, left the airport, and headed into downtown.


	4. Stingray's

"_You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy,"-Sir Alec Guinness in Star Wars: Episode IV_

**Stingray's Bar and Grill, Freeport-**

The quartet was greeted by the smell of food well before they walked into the popular hangout. They let the scent of food guide their way toward the bar when suddenly a drunken dog went flying out of the door. The dog fell onto the ground and rolled onto his back where he lay panting.

"And stay out!" roared a muscular wolf, "It isn't even 8 o'clock yet and your already tore up!"

As they approached the entrance, Baloo recognized the wolf.

"Any room inside for us Hugo?" asked Baloo.

"Well if it isn't Baloo Bruinwald and his sidekick Louie Lamor," said the wolf upon recognizing the two, "I haven't seen you two in these parts in a while…Yeah there's room, just had to get rid of some riff raff…you know the deal."

"Hey why do I have to be the sidekick?" asked Louie.

"I don't know Louie," said Hugo with a laugh, "You just look like one!"

"That's messed up."

"We're here with our friends," said Baloo as he motioned to the professor and grad student.

"Hello gorgeous!" said the wolf to Thom, "Where have you been all my life?"

"Staying away from you," said Thom.

"Oh boys you got one with an attitude, I like that!"

"The attitude comes with two fists Mac," Thom said coldly.

"Girl," said Hugo with a wolfish grin, "Something tells me yer gonna fit right in here."

Hugo welcomed the four into the bar and had one of the waitresses find them a table.

Stingray's was considered by many to be the most popular hangout in Freeport and it had the crowd to prove it. The large bar and grill featured a main floor plus a rooftop that had its own bar and tables with a view of the Pacific. On the main floor was a live band playing the latest in jazz as well as two full bars and a dance floor

The bar attracted a wide variety of patrons including locals, tourists, and more than a few sailors and pilots. Unfortunately Stingray's also attracted a lot of less than reputable clients. There were smugglers, gun runners, members of organized crime, and people with severe anger issue that just waited for the right moment to start something. There was even rumored to be a spy or two.

Freeport boasted a naval base and an airfield that serviced both Navy and Air Corps pilots. The personnel from both services frequently caused trouble with one another when they were together. They mainly stayed to their own hangouts but Stingray's was considered to be an "open bar" meaning that its owner didn't turn away paying customers. Local, tourist, criminal, military, it didn't matter here. The only thing that mattered was money, besides the bouncers were more than able to handle a few miscreants and trouble makers.

"What a colorful looking place," said Professor O'Bowens in regards to both the old fashioned, wooden-interior of the bar which looked to have been built in the 1700s, and the bar's patrons.

Sitting at the table nearest them was a gruff looking wolf in a sleeveless shirt and a female wolf with an eye patch.

Elsewhere were an ostrich in khakis, a pig in a leather bomber jacket, an elderly fox with a sea captain's hat, two donkeys shooting pool, a bunch of rowdy sailors in their cracker-jack style uniforms, two large female hippos who were eyeing every single man in the place, a loud mouth dog pilot with a cowboy hat, an obese tabby cat who was throwing darts with an emaciated-looking goose, a brawny bear with a vicious scar on his face, a panda in a white suit, and off in the corner of the bar, a wolverine dressed in black.

"Looks like we have some real winners in this place," said Thom as she turned away from a young sailor who had just winked at her.

"Not your type of place?" asked Louie.

"No, no it's not that. It just reminds me of this place I went to with some friends back in Cape Suzette."

"Which place?" asked Baloo.

"The Dockside," she said then added, "It's on the corner of Bay and 42nd."

"I know the place…they got killer wings."

"I don't know about you all but I am starving," said Louie who grabbed a menu from the table top."

"I've been starving," said Baloo who flagged down a waitress, "Can I get a plate of cheese fries?"

"What size darling," said the young ferret waitress.

"Large of course," said Louie with a smile.

"Gotcha ya honey. Do you all need more time deciding on the rest?"

"I could use a few minutes," said O'Bowens.

"Any drinks for you?"

"I think we're gonna need a pitcher of beer," said Louie.

"What about you two," Baloo asked O'Bowens and Thom.

"Well…" said O'Bowens, "I think I'll just have a soda."

"Aw come on Professor," said Baloo, "Live a little!"

O'Bowens chuckled and then changed his mind, "On second thoughts, I'd like a Scotch on the Rocks."

"Oh he's goin straight for the liquor! You're my kind of professor Professor!" said Louie.

"What about you Thom?" asked Baloo, "Do you want something sweet to drink, maybe a glass of wine or something like that?"

Thom was annoyed at the sexist overtones. She'd show these pilots what she could do.

"I'll have a double-shot of tequila and a whiskey sour."

Baloo's jaw dropped and Louie's eyes widened.

"You do shots?" asked Louie.

"Yes," Thom replied and then smiled deviously, "Actually I'd like for my friends to have a shot of tequila as well…my treat."

The young waitress smiled knowingly to Thom and then walked off to get their drinks.

Both Baloo and Louie were surprised at how the grad assistant downed her shotglass without the need for a chaser. She also seemed to be at home in the rowdy atmosphere of the bar and both of them wondered just what type of girl she was. One thing was clear: judging by her taste in liquor they could tell that she wasn't a girly girl.

Baloo found himself warming up to the cat. She was attractive but more than that she was easy going and had no problem matching the boys drink for drink. Of course it could have been the alcohol that was causing her to lose her inhibitions.

"Heya miss," said a young sailor with a nervous smile, "Wanna dance?"

Thom looked at the sailor, a beige cat in his early twenties, and smiled. "You were the one who winked at me earlier."

"Oh, oh…I… that…yeah."

"C'mon, lets dance."

"I'm Billy. Seaman Billy Taylor. I'm a gunner's mate."

"Thomasina, Thom Whiskerson. Graduate student."

Baloo watched as she grabbed the sailor's hand and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. "She's lucky her boyfriend isn't here Professor."

O'Bowens laughed, "Thom doesn't have one."

"You don't say," said Baloo with a sneaky smile. _This could be an interesting two weeks!_

Baloo then remembered to press the professor about the Emerald King. "So Professor, what's the deal with this Emerald guy?"

"Oh you mean the Emerald King," said O'Bowens with a friendly smile. He was more than happy to share his knowledge about archaeology with anyone who asked, "Well it all goes back to the days of the Tinca Empire in what are now modern-day Feru and Bolivaria and a little sliver of Ronguay."

Thom shortly returned from her dance with Seaman Taylor and the four flagged down a waitress and ordered dinner.

Over their dinner the professor proceeded to tell them about how the Empire of the Tinca had become the most powerful nation of its time in its region of the world. He explained how it was ruled by a monarch and went into detail about the culture and language of the people. Next he told of how conquistadors from Hispania had come and that they had overthrown the Tinca with a mix of weapons and the smallpox disease that they had unwittingly brought with them.

O'Bowens then went into the meat of the topic: The Temple of the Emerald King. Baloo and Louie learned that the Emerald King wasn't a king at all. He was a royal kinsman who had been charged by the ruler of the Tinca to safeguard a sacred temple that, as legend had it, hid a large emerald mine from which the Emerald King drew his name. The Temple had been sacked by a troop of conquistadors who had gone in search of treasure and had become trapped inside the Temple. Only one conquistador had managed to escape, bringing a large emerald with him as proof, and eventually recounted the story to a Dominican Friar who agreed to keep the location of the temple secret. The surviving conquistador had drawn a map, ripped it in two, and given one half to the friar while keeping the other for himself. The young conquistador had warned the friar that all who came for glory and greed would meet with death and that only those of noble intentions would safely enter and leave the temple. Afterward the friar took vows as a monk and lived out the rest of his life at the Dominican mission, refusing to speak about the temple.

"So let me get this straight professor," said Louie who was speaking in a slurred voice, "There's this big temple out in the jungle that has an emerald mine. Am I correct?"

"That about sums it up."

"And what do we do if we find it?" asked Baloo.

"Why explore it of course!" said O'Bowens who was oblivious to the fact that Baloo and Louie were clearly interested in treasure, "We uncover the site, document the finds, bring in extra help, preserve the finding, and present the findings to the academic community!"

"What about the emeralds?"

"Our aim is to discover the site and preserve it and learn from it," said Thom who exchanged a smile with Billy the sailor who was sitting with his rowdy fellow sailors.

"But the emeralds?" said Louie.

"Would more than likely need to be excavated out of the ground," said O'Bowens, "Besides, the site belongs to Feru. We would need mining rights to get them and this expedition doesn't account for that."

News of this caused Baloo and Louie's spirits to lower but another pitcher of beer alleviated that.

The next thirty minutes passed by quickly as they finished their dinner. Baloo was happy that he was fed and was having his beer; things were perfect as far as he was concerned. That is until he heard a familiar voice.

"You got that right!"

**Cape Suzette-**

The young business executive hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair with a smile of satisfaction on his face. He had just gotten off the phone with the Feruvian deputy minister of mines who had told him that all of the necessary paperwork regarding mining rights was now in place…pending the discovery of any minerals in the surveyed site. The deputy minister and his superior were well-aware of the possible existence of a Tinca temple but they had been assured by the businessman that the temple itself would be preserved and that the suspected emerald mine would be approached from tunnels that were to be dug at an angle.

The government of Feru would receive a fair share of the profits from the emeralds as well as being able to supply several thousand Feruvians with work in the mines. There was also the added benefit of financial support from the corporation to arm the military and help the government defend against any rebels, all that was asked for in return by the corporation were exclusive mining rights in Feru for the next 30 years along with a lion' share of the emeralds. The deputy minister had hammered out the fine details and had gotten both the president and prime minister to sign off on the deal the day before the corporation's expedition set off for the jungle.

The young cheetah executive was responsible for coordinating the entire expedition and had been given virtually free reign by the chairman/owner of the corporation to commence the operation. He was the one who had approached the renowned professor earlier in the year and had proposed the idea of backing the expedition. He had seen the leopard professor at a lecture while he was in university and had been fascinated by the professor's findings. He followed the professor's research and had discovered that the professor was onto something in regards to the supposedly legendary mine.

Armed with years of research plus tales from jungle explorers, the professor and his equally esteemed colleague had determined that they could find the temple that served as the entrance of the mine. Unfortunately there had been a falling out between the two academics over both of their aims and methods and they had parted as rivals. Now both professors were off on the hunt for the temple and it was the young businessman who had persuaded his wealthy boss to back the expedition.

The cheetah knew that he had a limited amount of time. The University of Cape Suzette had already decided to send a small (two-person plus help) expedition to the Amazonia Jungle, which was under the leadership of his expedition leader's former partner, at the same time that his own group would be going. One may have found this as a problem but the cheetah was not one who backed down from challenges. He had worked his way through the university and had graduated top of his class with a degree in business administration. He had distanced himself from his fellow students/rivals through both academics and sheer ruthlessness. He was not afraid to use any weapon available to him to overcome any one who stood in the way of his goals be it through financial wizardry, intimidation, or even blackmail.

He got hired on at the corporation and steadily worked his way up the ladder at a quick speed by the use of both his business talents and his skills at manipulation. He had gained the notice of the chairman and had been elevated into a position on the board of directors at the unheard of age of 26, albeit the lowest position on the board. The now 28 year old was one of the most accomplished and able of all of the chairman's people.

Because of this the chairman had blessed off on his "little jungle adventure" and now he was poised to make his company and himself even wealthier. Aside from the professor, he had arranged for aircraft, equipment, bribes to the locals, and most sinisterly-a team of mercenaries headed by an extremely dangerous veteran of the Great War. The veteran, known for his expertise and brutality, was considered by many in the world of mercenaries and unstable countries to be the best in the world.

The cheetah looked at this wrist watch and saw that it was after 8 p.m. He normally stayed on a little longer than everyone else when the work day ended but this evening he had had to wait until the deputy minister had called him. Now that the conversation was over he would go to his upscale apartment and then return to the office the next morning so he could take the call from the professor which was due at 8:45 a.m.

He stood up, grabbed his briefcase, and went to the door. Closing it behind him he walked off toward the elevator and took it down to the lobby, whistling all the way down.

As he left the building he bade the two security guards good evening.

"Have a good night gentlemen," he said to the pair.

"Good night sir," said the younger of the two.

The older of the two opened the door for him and said, "Have a good evening Mr. Perry."

**Stingray's-**

Baloo cringed at the sound of the annoyingly familiar voice that had said the annoyingly familiar catch phrase.

"Not him!" Baloo said, "Please God, not him!"

"Not who?" asked Thom.

Before he could answer, a woman's voice called out the name of the annoying person.

"ACE LONDON!"


	5. Melee

_"And the man in the back said everyone attack and it turned into a ballroom blitz,"-Sweet_

__**Stingray's-**

"Heya babe!" replied the dashingly handsome, and egotistical, wolf.

Baloo turned to look over his shoulder and saw the wolf reach out to a lioness and give her a big hug. Accompanying the wolf were five other men including a large and muscular duck, all of whom were wearing Army Air Corps flight jackets.

"He's not bad looking," said Thom.

"HA! You haven't met him yet."

"You don't like him?"

"You don't know him like I do."

Baloo turned away, hoping that London wouldn't notice him but he was too slow.

"Is that who I think it is?" came the jovial voice of Ace London, "Is that…is that…Baloo Bruinwald?"

"He noticed you cuz," said Louie who gave a chuckle and then headed to the bar.

"Well if it isn't my ol' buddy Baloo!" said London as he pulled a seat from a nearby table and sat down next to Baloo, "What brings my ol' buddy to these parts?"

"Hi London," Baloo said without any friendliness, "Work brings me here."

"Work huh?" laughed London, "So what is ol' Baloo Bruinwald up to these days?"

"I'm a cargo pilot," Baloo answered in an emotionless voice.

"You don't say," said London who turned to his fellow pilots, "I always knew ol Baloo would make it as a pilot. A few years back he was in the Air Corps with me. We were in the same crew on an old Maartin MB-2 Bomber but we weren't pilots."

"So he didn't stick around the Air Corps?" asked the muscular red-headed duck.

"Naw, he got out and I got into flight school. Now he's a cargo pilot."

"So what are you flying these days London?" asked Baloo who decided to make a small attempt at conversation.

"Yes, what do you fly?" asked Thom with a smile on her face.

London smiled slyly at Thom and forgot all about Baloo. He stuck out his hand and introduced himself, "Ace London, First Lieutenant of the 18th Pursuit Group Usland Army Air Corps. I fly a Boewing P-26 Peashooter."

Thom shook the offered hand, "Thomasina Whiskerson graduate student, but you can call me Thom."

_Oh brother! _Baloo thought to himself, _Gimmie a break!_

"Grad student huh?" London chuckled, "Nice!"

"Are these all of your fellow pilots?" asked Professor O'Bowens.

"Yes they are mister…"

"Linus O'Bowens," the professor replied and stuck out his hand for a shake, "Professor of Archaeology."

London shook the professor's hand, "Archaeology huh? Sounds interesting…anyway let me introduce you to my guys." London pointed to each pilot and rattled off their names.

"Bad Boy Burkhardt,"- a cocky-looking wart hog.

"Mean Max O'Leary,"- a scruffy dog with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Crazy Chris Miller,"-a goose with eyes that appeared to look out in two different directions.

"Wingnut Walsh,"-a hyper-looking weasel.

"Turbine McQuack,"-the muscular red-haired duck.

"Well you certainly all look like winners," said Thom as kindly as possible. To her this bunch looked like a bunch of cocky and self-absorbed frat boys…but their leader was handsome. "How'd you get your nickname Ace?"

"Actually it's a call-sign," he answered with his trademark style flair, "I shot down five Air Pirates in one day and five is what it takes to be an ace so that's how I got it."

"It must've been dangerous."

"It was nothing!"

_Please God make him go away! _Thought Baloo.

"I guess you're pretty well respected," Thom said with a smile that was anything but respectful.

London was oblivious to her veiled insult and responded with his catchall phrase, "You got that right!"

Baloo dusted off his glass of beer and said, "I may need another round."

"Too bad you got out of the Air Corps Baloo, you coulda been in my squad," London said with a kind laugh.

Even though the fighter pilot was being friendly Baloo still didn't like him. He had had to put up with the egotistical wolf his entire time in the service. They were stuck as bunk mates in basic training and ended up as part of a four man crew for one of the Air Corp's first bomber types; London served as a bombardier while he handled the bombs and all throughout their time together the wolf had gone on incessantly about himself.

During their service together, he had spent more time than he would've liked with London. They were once again stuck together as bunk mates which meant that not only was he around London throughout the duty day but he had to spend his nighttime hours with him. On top of it London was a sly con artist. He had a habit of being able to con just about anyone into doing what he wanted. The smooth talker had used Baloo to his advantage buy getting him into bringing in alcohol to the barracks, which was against regulations. He sweet talked Baloo and others into doing any duties that he didn't think were befitting of him, and he dragged Baloo into situations in which he didn't want to be involved with, including one that very nearly resulted in Baloo being demoted during a court martial.

"Yeah I could just imagine being with you London," Baloo said sarcastically.

"It'd be like old times!"

"Yay."

Thom could sense the tone of Baloo's voice and decided that now would be a good time to go to a different part of the bar.

"Hey your girlfriend is leaving the table," said Turbine McQuack.

"Oh they're not dating," said O'Bowens.

"Hmmm, is that so?" said London with a grin.

"Hey guys," said Wingnut Walsh who pointed at the group of sailors, "She's going over to those squids!"

"Too bad," said London as he saw Thom take a seat to a cat sailor, "She likes swabbies."

That remark ticked Baloo off, "What's that supposta mean London?"

"Geez Baloo no need to get bent outta shape," London said as if talking to a five year old, "I was only remarking that she has poor taste. A girl like that deserves better than a crackerjack."

"Guess she deserves you," Baloo said coldly.

"You got that right!"

While the scene with London was playing out, Louie was busy waiting at the bar for a drink. He noticed that the waitresses were too busy going to different tables that he decided he couldn't wait any longer for a drink. Now he was getting a pitcher from an overweight puma bartender. As he was returning to the table he looked in the direction of the bar's entrance and saw three familiar figures walking in: a rhino in a suit, a gorilla in a suit, and between them a diminutive alligator in a suit and hat.

"Here comes trouble," Louie said to himself.

Trader Moe and his two goons walked into Stingray's and made a beeline to the bar. They had just flown in from Cape Suzette with the purpose of expanding their racket and were very thirsty. As they neared it Trader Moe spotted a familiar-looking face.

"Hey doesn't that orangutan work for Branigan?" Trader Moe asked his goons.

"Duh, then why is he here boss?" asked the rhino goon.

"Yeah boss, shouldn't he be at work?"

"You know something you two?" Trader Moe asked sarcastically.

"I know how to read!" said gorilla goon.

"I can drive!" added rhino goon.

"Sono cosi stupidi!" Trader Moe lamented, "The two of you'd be lucky to share a double digit IQ! That guy works for Branigan but if he's here he's not working!"

"If he's here he's not working for Mr. Branigan boss," replied rhino goon.

Trader Moe was about to cuss out his goons but realized it was no use. They were so dumb that they probably wouldn't realize that they were being insulted. Instead the alligator decided to grab a drink and then follow the orangutan to his table.

"So Baloo ol'buddy," asked London, "Where are you taking the professor?"

"Nunya," said Baloo who finished off his glass of beer. He looked around and saw Louie heading toward the table with another pitcher.

"Nunya?" asked London, "Where's that?"

Louie sat down and proceeded to pour himself and Baloo a drink.

"Its not 'where' its what," said Baloo who filled up his mug and took a gulp. He could feel the effects of the alcohol on his body. He felt a little unsteady and his speech was somewhat slurred, "And what it is is nunya business."

London furrowed his brow for a moment as he did not get the understanding of the joke right away. As soon as the punchline was evident to him he laughed, "Ol' Baloo Bruinwald, always a joker!"

"Baloo," asked O'Bowens, "Perhaps we should get back to the plane and get some rest. We have an early day tomorrow."

"Sure thing professor," said Baloo as he downed another glass and reached for the pitcher to refill it, "Just as soon as we finish our beer."

"Someone sounds like their getting lit up!" laughed London, "Just as long as you don't leave the place with their pitcher…can't have you getting in trouble for taking a glass back somewhere it isn't supposed to be."

That was it: London's statement made Baloo angry. He couldn't believe the audacity of London to hint at something that had nearly cost Baloo his rank. Years before when he and London were in the Air Corps, they had gone out on the town on a mission to drink it dry. London had gotten carried away and Baloo had had to drag him back onto post. Along the way the wolf had scrounged up a bottle of cheap alcohol and stuffed it in his pocket without Baloo noticing. They had then gone back to the barracks.

There was a standing order on the post that no alcohol was allowed in the barracks. As soon as they had arrived, London pulled the bottle out, cracked it open, and resumed his drinking. Baloo tried to stop him by grabbing the bottle from his hands. At that moment, one of their sergeants had walked in and saw Baloo holding an empty bottle of booze in his hand. The irate non-commissioned officer had flipped out and tore into Baloo. He then called for the military police to come and take Baloo to the provost marshal's station and thrown into the drunk tank. For his part London had passed out on the floor and he too was carted off.

As this happened on a Friday night, the two were left in the drunk tank portion of the brig until Monday morning when their company commander and first sergeant arrived to pick them up. Baloo was told that he was going to be charged with disobeying a lawful order and was informed that he would be tried at a court's martial. London had received a verbal reprimand for two reasons: 1. He wasn't actually seen to be in possession of the bottle, and 2. His father was a colonel and an aide to the commanding general of the Air Corps.

In due course the charges against Baloo were dropped as three other soldiers who happened to be in the barracks that night had testified that Baloo had taken the bottle away from London before he could cause any havoc. Their testimony caused the court martial's presiding officer to throw the case out and Baloo was let off the hook with a verbal warning to watch who he associated with. London on the other hand got off scot-free. Rumor had it his father had pulled some strings and got the incident swept under the rug. Within two months he had been reassigned to pilot training while Baloo finished out the rest of his enlistment six months later.

Even though he had gotten out of being convicted, Baloo had remained angry at the man who had almost gotten him thrown in the stockade. He had managed to avoid seeing the wolf ever since…that is until tonight.

Right now though, Baloo had finally gotten completely fed up with the hotshot pilot, "London, I'm only going to tell you this once," he growled, "Walk away."

"Why ol' Buddy?"

"I am not your buddy," Baloo said, "A buddy wouldn't have brought liquor back to the barracks and then stayed quiet while someone else took the rap."

London gave him a questioning look for a moment before the meaning of Baloo's words sunk in, "Oh that!" he laughed, "Aw c'mon Baloo ol' buddy, that was years ago! You can't still be sore about that? I mean you got out of it."

"Yeah I did…and I got out of our 'friendship."

"Its in the past Baloo," London laughed his annoying laugh, "Its ancient history. You never got in any trouble so why bring it up."

"Because of you, I had my application for flight training turned down," Baloo said angrily, "The CO thought that I wasn't responsible enough to be a pilot because I had been sent to a court martial."

"You got out of it," said London in a placating voice, "They dropped the charges."

"Didn't matter! The CO didn't like the fact that one of his people went to a court martial so he made sure my request was denied…too bad my dad couldn't have hooked me up."

London's men bristled at this remark and London felt his blood pressure rise. He had just been insulted. He hated the fact that Baloo had said aloud the real reason why he had gotten accepted to flight training. In spite of the insult the wolf decided to try and diffuse the situation.

"You know something Baloo?" London said in a kind voice, "If there was ever any problem its now in the past, buddies always get over things."

"If that's your way of sayin sorry," Baloo said and took another drink, "You should keep trying."

Turbine McQuack and the other pilots closed in on Baloo. They weren't going to allow London to be insulted any longer.

Just as they were about to start something they were interrupted by a small alligator.

"Well well well," said Trader Moe to Baloo and Louie, "If it isn't two of Branigan's saps."

"Saps?" said Louie indignantly, "Who you callin saps short stuff?"

Upon hearing short stuff the two goons went to stand next to Louie's chair, one on each side.

"Hey who are you guys?" asked London.

"Who are we?" asked the alligator in a mean voice, "I'm with the collection agency and I'm here to remind these two that they need to remind their hard headed boss that my boss is raising the rent."

"Look pal," Baloo said with an alcohol induced slur in his voice, "I'm already not having a good night without you so would you mind going away."

"Would I mind?" asked Moe who was readying to order his goons to hurt Baloo.

London and his men backed off a couple of feet and watched the scene play out. Louie downed his glass and readied to use it as a weapon. Thom, who was still with Billy the sailor, watched from over her shoulder, and in the back of the bar the black clad wolverine watched with interest along with three other wolverines who had just walked in.

Baloo was about to say something but was interrupted by the professor.

"Gentlemen please," said O'Bowens in a kind and fatherly voice, "There's no need for anyone to be angry. This is a bar and everyone here is having a good time. Now I suggest that we all be nice to each other and we can all have a drink together to calm our nerves."

"Be nice to each other?" Trader Moe said mockingly, "Where the hell did you guys find this guy at? He sounds like a grade school teacher."

"Actually I am a professor at the University of Cape Suzette."

"Oh!" Trader Moe said sarcastically, "Excuse me _professor."_

"You're excused," O'Bowens replied politely

"If you're a professor then why don't you _profess _to these two chumps to _profess _to their boss to make sure he better have my money on time?"

"Look pal," said Baloo, "I barely even know who you are but we're hundreds of miles away from Cape Suzette and I gotta a job to do so I can't tell our boss anything right now, but I'm sure Mr. Branigan will have your money on time so leave us alone…by the way, what are you guys doing so far from Cape Suzette?"

"Not that its any of your business," Moe sneered, "But I'm looking to expand my business, besides this is an open city so whose going to stop me?"

Louie could tell from Baloo's voice that he was getting angry, "Hey cuz, maybe we should just call it a night."

"What? And let them get the better of us?"

"Baloo, we should be getting along. We have a long flight ahead of us," added O'Bowens.

"Yeah Baloo," said Trader Moe, "Why don't you just chicken out like you're friends want?"

Baloo looked around and saw that all eyes were on him. Everyone at his table, Trader Moe and the goons, London and his pilots, even Thom and her new sailor friends were waiting to see what he would do. He had to make a decision: either walk away or stand up to the little alligator. If he walked away then he would save a lot of people trouble and avoid a fight. But if he did that then he would be viewed as a coward. If he stood his ground then he'd more than likely wind up in a fight with someone who was in the mob.

He decided to swallow his pride. He was going to get up and leave. He had a job to do and getting into a fight wasn't part of it.

"You know something? I got better things to do than beat you up."

He instantly regretted the words as soon as they came out. He was going to say that he' had better things' to do and leave it at that but the alcoholic haze he was in got the better of him and Trader Moe jumped on it.

"Beat _me _up?" the alligator laughed, "Boys, it sounds like this guy is threatening me. Teach him a lesson on how he should talk to me."

The two goons closed in on Baloo and as soon as they placed their hands on his shoulders it was on…only neither they nor Baloo kicked things off.

At their table in the back of the bar, the four wolverines watched with keen interest. The angry and rowdy bunch was just itching to fight and waited for the right moment to release their pent up aggression. Their patience was rewarded as soon as the too goons in suits clamped their hands down on the gray bear's shoulders.

Baloo looked left and right at the hands of the rhino and gorilla and sighed. He didn't want a fight but now he had no choice.

Trader Moe grinned, picked up the pitcher of beer, and dunked it on Baloo's head.

That did it.

Baloo shot straight up out of his chair and reached for the alligator. The gorilla goon pushed Baloo down onto the table. Then he lifted Baloo up, punched him in the stomach and threw him down to the floor. Louie made a move but was kicked down by the rhino who then slipped on the spilt beer and fell back into the table that was occupied by the eyepatch wearing wolf and her husband. The couple's food and drinks went to the floor as the impact from the rhino hit their table with enough force to knock it over.

The lead wolverine saw the scene and decided that this was the moment.

"ATTACK!" he screamed and everything went crazy.

**Bar Fight-**

Professor Linus O'Bowens of the archaeology department of the University of Cape Suzette had been in exciting and dangerous situations before. He had sailed across the Mediterranean Sea in rough weather on a ship that had almost capsized, he had been chased through the jungles of Patagoita by angry, spear-wielding pygmies, been attacked by irate gorilla birds in darkest Afrika, worked in the searing heat of the deserts of Ghafia and Abyssinia, almost froze to death in the Arctic tundra of Thembria, found himself caught up in a civil war in Ronguay, and had survived a bout of Yellow Fever, but nothing had prepared him for his first bar fight.

As soon as someone yelled 'attack' the whole place erupted into a melee in which he was at the epicenter.

The wolverines charged out in different directions and threw themselves at the first people they came to; male, female, old, young, big, small it didn't matter, everyone was fair game. One of them went charging up the stairs to the rooftop patio and instigated a fight up there.

The puma bartender saw the wolverines charge into the crowd and said angrily, "It's those damn Wolverton boys again!" right before he was hit by a merchant marine who had been sent flying over the bar by a large polar bear who then took a shot in the back by a pool cue wielding donkey who had a shock of red hair and a stogie in his mouth.

"Way to go Lampy!" yelled a yellow hat wearing donkey as he watched his red-haired friend whack the polar bear.

Lampy looked back at his friend and hollered boldly, "That's how you do it Pinoke! The bigger they are the harder they-URGH!"

Lampy didn't have time to finish his sentence. The polar bear, barely fazed by the strike from the cue, grabbed Lampy by the throat, and choke-slammed him into the floor.

A Marine got bumped into the table full of sailors who immediately threw him to the floor. This caused an entire table's worth of Marines to charge the sailors. Marine dress blues merged with Navy blue wearing sailors in a collision of fists, feet, and curses.

"DAMN SQUIDS!" shouted a Marine.

"JARHEAD BASTARDS!" yelled a Sailor.

A khaki-clad ostrich took a nasty left hook from one of the wolverines who was then jumped by a bomber-jacket wearing pig pilot.

The obese tabby cat and his dart throwing buddy, an emaciated goose, got trampled under by a trio of gun-running lions, one of which was stabbed in the calf by a dart from the goose.

The bear with the scar punched a skinny coyote in the face for no reason whatsoever, there was a lot of violence going on at Stingray's for no reason whatsoever; save for the opportunity to be in a bar fight, immediately the coyote's girlfriend grabbed the bear's bottle of beer and cracked him over the head with it.

The eyepatch wearing wolf and her husband grabbed their bar stools and went for Trader Moe's goons in revenge for the rhino goon running their dinner. They hit both goons hard enough to break the stools on the two, but the two goons were too dumb to register much pain.

The suit wearing panda, actually a foreign spy sent to gather information on the island's military installations, found the nearest wolverine and attacked him with a flurry of punches and kicks. The burly wolverine was no match for the quick, hard strikes from the kung-fu trained panda. It took the rest of the Wolverton boys to take the spy down.

Hugo the doorman and his fellow bouncers worked their best to stop the fight but despite their best efforts the melee grew.

Soon everyone in the bar was involved in the fight, even the two fat female hippos. Everyone was involved except for one: the elderly fox in the sea captain's hat continued to sit at the bar and drink his rum. He looked around him and said dismissively, "Kids."

Thom watched as a duck sailor went flying through a window and then looked worriedly for Billy. She spotted the young sailor right in the middle of a large tussle. Billy was swinging away at a jackal Marine who took a vicious hay-maker to the side of his face. The Marine went down and Billy looked over and saw Thom staring at him.

The young sailor smiled at her and was then hit by one of London's pilots who was thrown by the gorilla goon.

Thom sighed, grabbed someone else's beer, walked over to the gorilla, and clocked him in the face.

The gorilla frowned at her and said in his clueless voice, "Thank you but I'm not thirsty."

Trader Moe grabbed Thom and spun her around and said, "You're with that fat bear pilot!"

"Let go of me creep!" Thom yelled.

"Or else what broad?"

"Or else this," came a calm voice that was followed by a fist to Moe's face which sent the alligator sprawling on the floor.

Thom looked at her savior and smiled, "Thanks professor!"

"Not a problem my dear," O'Bowens said, surprised at himself for getting directly involved in the fight. A second later he was knocked to the ground by the rhino.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" came a loud roar.

Trader Moe, who had by now gotten up off of the floor, his two goons, Ace London and his fellow Army pilots (who had entered into the fray with the Sailors and Marines with the aim of determining which service was toughest), and everyone else in their portion of the bar turned and looked at the source of the roar.

Baloo stood there, seemingly oblivious to the fighting around him, focused on Trader Moe and his goons, and started toward them.

"Goons, get this friggen guy!" Moe said to his underlings.

The gorilla made his way toward Baloo and took a swing at him. The pilot ducked and then came back up with an uppercut to the goon's chin. The blow hit the gorilla so hard that his knees buckled and fell to the floor face first. Baloo stepped forward and continued on toward Trader Moe.

The diminutive alligator looked at the rhino goon and said, "Is it too much to ask? Go get this guy!" The rhino reached for his pistol which was concealed beneath his jacked but was stopped by a blur of orangish motion.

Louie had jumped up on Baloo's shoulders and somersaulted to the ground in front of Baloo. The orangutan slapped the rhino's hand away, dropped down to the floor on his hands, and kicked the rhino in the gut with his feet.

The rhino doubled over and was finished off by a punch from Baloo.

Trader Moe sneered at Baloo, pulled out a wad of cash, pointed at Baloo and Louie, and yelled to the crowd, "A HUNDRED BUCKS TO WHOEVER BEATS UP THESE GUYS!"

In spite of the noise generated by the fight, the words of the mobster were picked up on by many of the bar's patrons who now focused all of their attention on Baloo and Louie.

"Gimmie a break!" Baloo said.

"I think that's what they're all planning on cuz," replied Louie.

"Back to back?" Baloo asked.

"Back to back," said Louie.

The two stood back to back with their arms raised and were set upon by wave after wave of bar patrons. The two swung and kicked at everyone and everything that came close to them. Quickly they fought their way toward Thom and Professor O'Bowens who were now near the Air Corps pilots.

Ace London and his boys were doing rather well at the moment. The squids and the jarheads had been too busy with one another by the time he and his crew had entered into the fray and now the Air Corps pilots were dominating the competition. Turbine McQuack, a former college football linebacker, led the way.

"Ace!" said Crazy Chris Miller, "These guys are a bunch of wimps compared to us!"

"You got that ri-" was about all Ace managed to get out before a fist slammed into his face with so much force that it knocked the cocky wolf unconscious.

"I hate it when you say that!" Baloo said automatically in response to the hated phrase. He then realized that he had accidentally knocked out his former Army buddy, "Sorry bout that."

Turbine McQuack turned toward Baloo and attacked him. The two big men traded blows with one another and it was only the sound of sirens that caused the two, equally matched opponents to back off.

"It's the cops!" Trader Moe said, "Come on you two! Let's go!"

"Where are we going boss?" asked the rhino goon.

"Away from here!"

"Why boss?" said the gorilla who had by now recovered from Baloo's uppercut.

"Because, there's cops you morons!"

Fifteen seconds later the local police, backed up by Army military police and the Navy shore patrol, entered the bar to break up the fight. Unfortunately for them instead of stopping the fight they were drawn into it.

"I think we should leave!" said O'Bownes to Baloo and Louie.

"Right!" Louie said.

"Where's Thom?" asked Baloo as he fended off an angry wolverine who had just jumped in front of him.

The wolverine hit him in the face a couple of times before Baloo reached out and wrapped the wolverine up in his arms and got him into a headlock. He looked out and saw Thom. The graduate student was pushed by a mean looking lady hyena. Thom reacted by slapping the hyena upside the head and then turned to face someone who had just put his hand on her shoulder. She drew back her fist but stopped herself as she realized who it was.

Billy the sailor grinned at her with a bloody mouth. "We gotta get out of here before the cops arrest us!"

She took his hand and together the two of them hurried toward the broken window. On the outside of the window laid the duck sailor who was still dazed by his flight through the glass. He was soon joined by a tiger who had been tossed off of the balcony by panther.

"Get outta here Thom!" said Billy as he watched the tiger land.

"What about you?"

"I gotta stick with my guys!" he said with a bloody grin.

Acting on impulse, Thom leaned toward Billy and kissed him on the cheek. Billy's grin grew wider and then he was snatched away from the broken window by an irate Marine.

A second later the fight spilled out onto the street. Over one hundred people, a combination of Stingray's employees, bar patrons, and law enforcement personnel flooded out of the bar like water escaping from a burst dam.

She spotted the professor and the two pilots and made her way to them.

"Quick!" she said, "Let's get back to the plane before the cops get us!"

The three men wasted no time in following her suggestion and beat feet back to the airfield, leaving the rioting horde behind.


	6. Hangover, Headline, Soccer, and a Call

"_A hangover is the wrath of grapes,"-Anonymous_

**October 16****th****, Freeport Regional Airport, the morning after the Melee-**

"Ehhhh," Baloo groaned in misery from both the blows he had taken in the fight and from his raging hangover, "I hurt."

"Please God make this hangover go away," moaned Louie who lay sprawled out on the floor of the _Sea Duck's _cargo bay, "I promise that I'll never drink again…for a week."

"Amen," replied Baloo.

"It sounds like you boys had more than you can handle," said Thom with a laugh.

"I can handle my alcohol," said Baloo.

"And it can handle you from the looks of it."

"You sure could handle yourself," Louie said to Thom, "You didn't take no lip off of nobody last night."

"You guys weren't so bad yourself."

"Are you feeling woozy?" asked Baloo.

"Not at all. I really didn't drink too much."

Baloo opened his eyes and sat up from the bunk that was in the cargo bay. He regretted it immediately as his head began to swim. He groaned and lay back down.

"Breakfast!" came the cheery voice of Professor O'Bowens who walked up the plane's lowered cargo ramp.

"Baloo and Louie's eyes popped open wide, "Did you say breakfast?" asked Baloo.

"Yes I did," laughed the professor, "I went and got us some doughnuts and coffee from the airport's lounge as well as a paper."

O'Bowens set the box of doughnuts and cups of coffee on a box of equipment and was soon joined by Thom and the hung-over pilots.

"You're a saint professor," said Louie, "I need some food in my stomach."

"Let's hope the alcohol hasn't ruined your appetite," said Thom.

"I'm starving," Baloo said as he reached for a glazed doughnut."

"Yup, nuthin ever ruins your appetite Baloo," said Louie.

"Haha," Baloo said sarcastically, "Doughnuts are a good cure for a hangover."

"But not the best," added Louie as his took a drink of coffee.

"Yes, I agree that coffee is a good cure," said O'Bowens who opened up the newspaper.

"Actually there's a better cure for a hangover than coffee," said Baloo.

"What would that be?"

"More alcohol."

The professor laughed, "In spite of the brawl, I had fun last night."

"What?" asked Thom with a raised eyebrow.

"It made me feel young again," said the professor, "Like I was back in college."

"I didn't picture you as being the party type professor."

"Trust me my dear, I wasn't always a boring professor," O'Bowens laughed, "By the way everyone, the fight made the front page of the paper."

The headline of the **Freeport Press **read as follows:

**Brawl at popular hangout leaves several in hospital and dozens in jail.**

The photo accompanying the article showed a crowd of brawlers fighting one another in the street in front of **Stingray's. **Among those in the photo was dazed looking wolf that was being held aloft by one of the Wolverton brothers who was apparently getting ready to throw him to the ground.

"Say isn't that," said Louie as he gazed at the photo.

"Oh my God," exclaimed Thom, "It's him!"

"It's Ace London!" said O'Bowens.

"You got that right," added Baloo with a chuckle. The other three looked at him with raised eyebrows after hearing him say the hotshot fighter pilot's catch phrase. Baloo smiled and said, "Sorry, had too."

Twenty minutes later the Conwing L-16 sped down the runway and ascended into the sky.

**The Freeport Home for Children-**

The soccer ball soared into the air after being kicked by the goalie. It came down in front of a rotund warthog who then kicked it over to a lion that took it down the field. He in turn kicked it over to a cheetah who took it forward and then stopped in front of a defender. The defender, a chimpanzee, attempted to kick it but he was too slow. The cheetah boy kicked the ball behind himself and it ended up in the possession of a small, cinnamon brown bear cub.

The cub ran as fast as he could toward the opposing team's goal but was forced to kick the ball back to the cheetah as a mean looking panther cub defender came at him. The bear cub then peeled off and went to the left of the goal and watched the cheetah work his way down toward him.

The bear cub had a good chance of scoring a goal seeing as the older defenders didn't think much of him. He was eight years old and small for his age, as such he wasn't viewed as a threat. His cheetah friend however, a superfast boy named Rhett Swift, was well-known as one of the best soccer players in at the orphanage. Rhett was eight also but he had established himself as being someone who you wanted to have on your team for any sport.

Rhett saw his friend standing unguarded to the left of the goal and sent the ball his way. It should have been an easy goal.

Unfortunately for Rhett and the rest of his team the little bear cub had diverted his attention to a plane that had just taken off from the nearby civilian airfield. The flight path of the airfield took out going aircraft directly over the orphanage's playing field. Because he had momentarily taken his eyes off of the ball he wasn't able to react.

The ball hit the boy in the chest and sent him on his back. This allowed the goalie to run out, snatch up the ball, and send it back the way it came.

As the cub lay on his back he looked up at the aircraft and said to himself, "Conwing L-16 with Superflight 100s.".

Rhett went to his friend, extended his hand, and lifted the bear cub to his feet, "You know you messed up don't you?"

"Yeah," the cub replied, "I just got distracted."

Rhett smiled at his friend. The bear cub was crazy about planes.

"You and your airplanes," the cheetah said, "You got planes on the brain flyboy."

That the bear cub did. He reckoned he thought about airplanes and flying at least every ten seconds.

"Sorry for messing up," he said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it Kit."

The boys then went back to the game and a few minutes later the bear cub made up for his mistake by tying up the score 1 to 1.

**Tima, the Republic of Feru-**

"Anything on the detector?" Verrat asked the weasel with the tracking device receiver.

"Nothing," said the weasel, "I don't understand it. This thing has a tracking radius of five miles and we're at the airport. We should be getting something."

The team had arrived the night before and had proceeded to a hangar that belonged to the corporation that was sponsoring their expedition. Presently Verrat was with half of the team, including the three pilots, while the other half was in the city gathering up anything extra that the expedition needed.

"Maybe they're not here," said another member of the team, a lynx who was busy checking the rest of the equipment that had been brought along.

Verrat frowned and then asked a question whose answer he suspected he knew, "You _did _check with the airport to see if O'Bowens arrived didn't you?"

The weasel answered quietly, "I thought Beauchamp did."

Beauchamp the lynx looked at the weasel and said, "I thought you did."

Immediately Verrat reached out and grabbed the weasel by the throat, "Dammit Belette! I give you one small task and you mess it up!"

"I'm sorry," pleaded Belette.

Verrat looked to Beauchamp and said, "Both of you fools are lucky that Chacal isn't here."

Both men began to get agitated at the mention of Chacal. The leader of the mercenaries was not someone who tolerated failure. The fact that the two errant mercenaries were new to the team would not gain them any sympathy from Chacal.

Even Verrat was wary of the mercenary leader. He had served with him long enough to know that he could be an utterly ruthless bastard if the situation called for it.

The silence that had set in upon the mention of Chacal's name was abruptly ended when one of the pilots poked his head out of his plane.

"I just heard on the radio that there's two planes coming into land," said the fox named Redding.

"Did they say where they're coming in from Red?" asked Verrat.

"No, but the tower is making it sound like there isn't supposed to be much traffic coming in today so this might be our guys."

Verrat turned from the fox and asked Belette, "Is that thing picking up anything?"

The weasel looked at the device and said, "No."

"It may not be in range yet," added Beauchamp.

As if by magic the device began to beep.

"That's them!" exclaimed Belette.

"Good," said Verrat, "Once both planes land you two need to find out which one is the right one."

Both mercenaries nodded in understanding.

Verrat picked up a walkie-talkie, one of the prototype items that had been provided from the expedition's backer, and contacted the expedition leader.

"Raider 1 this is Raider 2 over," said Verrat.

A few seconds later a voice came in over the air waves.

"Raider 1 over," came Chacal's voice.

"They've landed, over."

"Bon," said Chacal, "I will inform the professor and we will back shortly, out."

**Earlier that day-**

Hours before the _Sea Duck _had landed the corporate sponsored expedition had been gathering additional items and actively seeking out the monastery that was reputed to have the missing half of the map to the Temple of the Emerald King hidden within it.

However at 8:45 a.m. sharp a phone call was made by the expedition leader to Mr. Perry.

The expedition leader reached the executive's secretary who then transferred him to her boss.

"This is Perry," said the executive.

"Bonjour Monsieur Perry."

"Boujour Professeur Le'Opard, how are things coming along down there? Fine I presume."

"For the most part," said the leopard professor in his cultured accent, "There is one, how you say, snag? That has come up."

"A snag? What kind of snag?"

"Our competitors have yet to arrive; they may have had mechanical trouble or just decided to stop somewhere so we are unable to follow them."

"That sets us back."

"Hopefully not for long. Besides this gives my men more time to find the other half of the map."

Perry was aware that the other half of the map, which was the first half, had been in a cathedral in Hispania where it was then lent to Professor Linus O'Bowens as part of 'research.' This had happened less than two weeks before both expeditions had set out.

This had prompted Le'Opard and his men to plan to use the prototype tracking device to follow O'Bowens as far as the first half of the map would take them. From that point, it would be up to Le'Opard and his men to discover the second half of the map and use it to find and claim the temple. If, for some reason O'Bowens found the second half first, then Le'Opard would continue to use the tracking device to follow all the way.

"Once you find the other half of the map," Perry said and then smiled coldly, "Do whatever you need to do to make sure that O'Bowens is stopped."

"Of course."

"There's no telling what that idiot would do with it…probably turn the site and the mine over to the natives."

As soon as he had heard O'Bowens being referred to as an idiot, the professor's voice went hard.

"Professor Linus O'Bowens is one of the best men that I have ever had the privilege of knowing and working with. He is one of the top archaeologists in the world. He is no idiot Monsieur Perry. Far from it, he is of as high a quality as moi. He is a great scholar both in the classroom and in the field. He may be blinded by academic idealism and unconcerned to political and economic realities but make no mistake, he is a formidable adversary and one who should never be counted out."

After a long pause Perry replied, "It's a good thing you have your mercenaries then seeing as O'Bowens is such a huge threat."

Professeur Le'Opard bristled at Perry's sarcasm but he kept himself calm. The young executive was someone whom he had a good rapport with but he was aware of the sly cheetah's arrogance.

"It's not O'Bowens that the mercenaries will have to deal with. It is whoever O'Bowens can get on his side that will need to be addressed."


	7. Mercenary

"_Some people risk to employ me, some people live to destroy me,"-Megadeth_

**Tima, The Republic of Feru, Afternoon of October 16****th****-**

"Okay," so now what professor?" Baloo asked as he brought the _Sea Duck _to a halt in a parking space at Tima's airport.

"Well, we will need to get started," replied O'Bowens who then pulled a map of the city out of a satchel, "We need to go to the Monastery of San Dominic."

Baloo and Louie looked at each other skeptically.

Thom saw the look on their faces and said humorously, "Afraid you boys are going to catch on fire if you step on holy ground?"

"Lady I ain't been in a church for years," Baloo answered.

"That was for your sister's wedding right," Louie said.

"Yup," said Baloo who then added, "Why are we going there?"

"Because that is where the second half…," O'Bowens paused, smiled, and pulled something out of his left breast pocket and held it aloft for all to see, "Of this map is!"

Baloo and Louie began to salivate. The professor had a treasure map and that meant that they would be led to enough emeralds so Baloo could buy the _Sea Duck _and open up an air freight service while Louie could open up a nightclub.

"The second half of the map is hidden in the monastery," said Thom.

Baloo and Louie recalled the story that Professor O'Bowens had told them about the Temple of the Emerald King.

"So let me get this straight professor," said Louie, "The sole survivor became a monk, drew a map, ripped it in half, and the piece that's missing is in the monastery?"

"Correct Louie, he hid it somewhere on the grounds of the Dominican mission which, over the years, became a monastery and church."

Louie smiled slyly at Baloo and said, "Maybe a little religion in our lives could be a good thing Baloo."

**Belette and Beauchamp-**

The two mercenaries stood at the opening to the hangar and looked across at the two planes that had recently landed. The first was a two engine airliner that disgorged a flock of tourists and the other was a cargo plane.

"That's the one," said Belette as he pointed at the cargo plane, "The detector is picking up the signal from it."

Beauchamp gazed out at the plane through a pair of binoculars. He watched as the plane rolled into a parking space, shut off its engines, and lowered its cargo ramp. Two people, a male monkey and a female cat stepped out and were then joined by the pilot and co-pilot.

"It looks like they are going to leave it," Beauchamp said, "they are placing the wheel blocks down."

"The signal is still coming from the plane," said Belette, "The device is still inside it."

"That's no surprise. Verrat said he put it a crate."

"I heard my name being called," said Verrat who walked up to the two, "Have you found them?"

"Yes sir," said Beauchamp, "They landed and left their plane but they didn't take the tracking device with them."

"Understandable," Verrat said. Before the expeditions had set out, Verrat had tracked down Professor O'Bowens at the university and had managed to sneak the small device into a crate that O'Bowens' assistant had set aside. He had grabbed a case that held surveying equipment and placed the device inside, "They won't need the surveying equipment yet."

"You hid it with their surveying stuff?"

"It was the closest thing I could get my hands on," said Verrat who added, "I'll inform the professor."

**Professor Le'Opard's group-**

"Merveilleux," said Le'Opard to Chacal who had just relayed the news of his rival's arrival, "Tell Verrat to stay put and keep an eye on their plane."

"Oui," said Chacal who then sent word to his second-in-command.

"We shall head to the monastery and wait for O'Bowens. We will let him find the other half of the map for us and then we will take it from him."

"And if he resists?" asked Chacal.

Le'Opard looked at the jackal and felt somewhat unnerved. It wasn't just the scar on the side of his head from the bullet that had hit him during the Great War that made him feel uneasy. Rather it was the expression in his eyes that did, or lack thereof. Chacal had what could only be described as 'dead eyes.' They were cold and expressionless eyes that didn't tell a person anything. They seemed _dark _and devoid of feeling. It was the same type of feeling one got when they looked at a shark's eyes. With eyes like this, it was almost impossible to tell what was on the jackal's mind. Not for the first time did Le'Opard wonder if having such a man like Chacal around was a bad idea.

Le'Opard pushed the thought aside, deciding that the mercenary was well regarded as a professional who followed orders and decided to stress to him that he himself was in charge.

"I do not want O'Bowens or his people harmed Chacal."

"And if they fight back?"

"More than likely they have not brought any weapons with them. O'Bowens is not violent by nature," Le'Opard did not wish his former friend and partner to come to any harm even though they had had a falling out. "If his two pilots cause any trouble your men may subdue them but do not kill them unless they are a threat."

"Even an unarmed man can be a threat professeur."

"Yes, but let's not attract any attention to ourselves…understood?"

"Completely."

"Now gather your men, we will go to the monastery and wait."

Chacal did as instructed.

As their group drove to the monastery in the vehicles that his men had appropriated, the mercenary leader sent instructions to Verrat to ensure that the planes were fully fueled and ready to go at a moment's notice. He then caught a glimpse of himself in the passenger-side mirror. The scar in the right side of his head shone clearly in the glass.

Chacal had taken a bullet to head in 1916 at the Battle of Verdyn. He had led his company in a charge into no-man's land when a Reichlander sniper had fired on him. By rights he should have died, but quick action by a nearby medic had kept him alive long enough for some of his men to get him to a field hospital.

He was operated on and the bullet was removed however, the projectile had caused enough damage to his parietal lobe that he lost almost all of his ability to feel physical sensations. As such he was virtually immune to pain.

An unforeseen side effect to this was that he now was able to push harder and faster than a normal person. The damage to his parietal lobe somehow caused the area of his brain that controlled reflexes to improve. He now had abnormally quick reflexes and was in turn able to generate more speed and power into his punches and kicks.

His inability to feel pain coupled with his quick reflexes and increased force allowed Chacal to be an even deadlier soldier. He returned to service in early 1918 and fought in several major battles. He was wounded once more in an assault on an enemy trench but kept fighting. The bayonet to his left shoulder did nothing to hinder his ability to personally kill 18 Reichlander troops. By the end of the day his company had routed a force three times its size and gained over 600 meters of territory including two lines of trenches. For his actions he was later awarded his nation's highest honor: the Legion de Honneur.

The period of peace in the post-war world forced Chacal to find new outlets for his skills. The drawdown of the military led to thousands upon thousands of soldiers without a calling. He left the army, gathered up a number of other disillusioned former service members from various countries, and formed a mercenary group. He didn't care who hired him or why. His only concern was that he and his men had work for their skills.

Over the years his organization's reputation grew and soon his contact information was on file with various governmental agencies (for work that they didn't want to get involved in) as well as with some of the world's larger corporations. His skills had been used by such corporations as Khan Industries of Usland and Riebolt Enterprises GMBH of Reichland (the fact that he fought against Reichland didn't deter him from working for a Reichlander company as he viewed the work as being strictly professional). Currently he was working for the Mineversal Corporation. The Usland-based company was the disputed number one biggest corporation in the world, a distinction it shared with Khan Industries.

The jackal did intend to comply with the professor's instructions to not harm O'Bowens and his people but out of habit, he checked his two sidearms. His primary pistol was an Usland made Bolt M1911 .45 caliber while his secondary was an MAS model 1873 revolver. The first was a gift from an Uslander officer whose unit he had fought alongside of in the last months of the war while the other was his own service revolver. Complimenting the two firearms was what he considered to be his signature weapon: a trench spike. The spike had the handle of a normal knife but the sharp, tapering spike of a bayonet. Completing the spike was a bracket that connected the hilt of the knife with the top of the handle forming into what was commonly known as a 'knuckle duster.' It gave the weapon the appearance of a blade with brass knuckles attached.

The rest of his men were armed with a variety of pistols, rifles, and even a couple of Reichlander-made submachine guns that had been specifically designed to clear the trenches of the Great War. These were all _just in case _O'Bowens and his friends became uncooperative.

**The Monastery of San Dominic-**

"Here we are everybody!" said Professor O'Bowens to his fellow adventures, "The monastery was built in 1531 by members of the Dominican order of friars and the Hispanian soldiers who they accompanied. It started out as a small mission but over time it became the monastery you see before you."

Baloo looked at the large, off-white building that stood at the center of a large square. The building had two tall bell towers that had crosses atop them. In between the two towers was a large cross with an image of the body of Christ on it. The façade of the building had carved images of angels and saints that stared out at passersby. Attached to the church portion of the monastery was a high wall that wrapped around the block in which was the monastery itself.

"That's a big church," said Louie.

"It isn't the biggest one in the city," said Thom, "There are a couple that are larger plus the cathedral.

"So who are we gonna talk to inside" asked Baloo, "Don't these monk guys take vows of silence?"

"Actually," said the professor, "That notion isn't entirely true. Some religious orders do have strict rules about speaking. They limit speaking to communal prayers and religious discussions or if they are visited by outsiders. The vow of silence really means that they refrain from talking when it interferes with their spiritual meditations."

"Spiritual meditations?" asked Baloo.

"That means that they spend time in quite thought and prayer," added Thom, "They contemplate."

"Contemplate what?" asked Louie.

"God."

"I've been doing some contemplating myself," joked Baloo, "I've been contemplating getting some food!"

"These monks only eat one full meal a day," said the professor, "Of course their definition of a meal may be different from yours."

Baloo's stomach rumbled. "Well let's get in and find this map so we can celebrate over some food."

**Outside the Monastery-**

Professeur Le'Opard watched as his former partner entered the monastery's church. He had his men covertly surrounding the block, waiting for the group to emerge with the map. From there they would allow them to go unmolested back to the airport.

His main plan was to follow them all the way to the temple. Of course things often didn't go to plan and as such he may have to either go in and find the map himself, if O'Bowens couldn't locate it, or he would have to physically take it from him if he and his people were spotted.

"Professeur," said Chacal, "My men are in position and waiting for your order."

"Bien, now all we shall have to do is wait."


End file.
